Hitting Rock Bottom
by Cinderella Adriana
Summary: After ShadowKiss Dimitri isn't taken, Dimitri takes Tasha's offer but isn't leaving yet. Rose gets mad, really mad. Rose joins a new academy with hot teachers and smoking students. Dimitri comes back but her mother goes missing. Can she find her mother or will she be too late?
1. Chapter 1: Bad Hair Day

**Hitting Rock Bottom**

**(This is the re edited version of the first chapter. You will know if the next chapter is re edited by this same Author's Note.)**

**Chapter 1: Bad hair day**

"Stupid alarm clock." I grimaced and threw my ringing cell phone across the room. I heard a crack as it hit the wall and my phone's powering down music. I closed my eyes again and turned over in my bed, hugging my pillow. Ten minutes later I got up cursing, under my breath.

I had another training session with the Russian God I called boyfriend, well boyfriend was a strange word for it. On any other day this would have made me jump in the shower and hum some cutesy love song to myself but today I just felt tired. I couldn't sleep, nightmares of the battle that had commenced only a few weeks before haunted me.

I turned on the shower and went in not bothering to wait for the hot water. The freezing water made me shiver but It soon warmed up. I imagined my nightmares going down the drain and mentally prepared myself for a new day. I got out a half hour later and dressed in my regular workout clothes. I grabbed my bag and left.

I entered the gym and saw no one. I walked in peering into the equipment closet, I jumped when I felt warm arms go around me.

"Good Morning Roza." Dimitri whispered in my ear.

"Hey," I answered back lamely, slightly turned on while Dimitri kissed my neck. "Where'd you pop out of?"

I felt him smile against my neck. "Wouldn't believe me if I told you."

I turned and kissed him full on the mouth. What a way to cheer me up. He, in return, kissed me once and pulled back, I gave him a questioning look and he leaned in once. Then he pushed me down and had me pinned underneath him, his knees were on both sides of my thighs and his hands holding mine flat above my head. Damn.

"Lesson one, don't let the enemy distract you." He smirked and I glared at him, what a tease. He shifted and that was all I needed to win this and in a moment I had him pinned under me.

"I thought lesson one was don't hesitate." I smiled at him. I got up and he did too.

"Well played Rose. Now why don't you run your ten laps and we'll spar?" I gave him my man-eater smile.

"Well," I traced one of the veins of his arms "I was kind of hoping we wouldn't exactly practice fighting today. I mean, I run everyday and I think it's time for me to exercise other parts of my body."

"And what other body parts did you have in mind?" He played along, a sly smile growing on his face.

"Oh, I don't know. We could make out a little, maybe head on over to our cabin for a different style of exercise. Don't worry about not being prepared to lead, I'll be in charge this time." I winked at him.

"Seems like a good idea." Yes! I thought but when he spoke again we he had his 'mentor' voice on. "Maybe after you run ten laps and if you do it under ten minutes, I'll let you skip your upper arm workout today."

"Ugh!" I whined. "Dimitri! I know you can feel the tension too. It's been three weeks, I don't know why you keep avoiding me." I took my arm back, slightly hurt, and started walking towards the track. A strong arm wrapped around my waist and Dimitri pulled me to him.

"Rosemarie-" He started.

"It's Rose."

"Fine, Rose, I'm not avoiding you. I would love to go to the cabin with you but it's better if we don't for a while. It can be dangerous. Going back right now is a risk I'm not willing to take."

"It's not that big of a risk, you're my tutor not my teacher. I'm already eighteen and I think It's already been proven that life is full of risks that we can't always control. A few weeks ago many guardians and Moroi died without risking anything. If we let fear control our lives, then we'll be spending a lot of our lives under a rock." I was really proud of my speech, even though most of it was rehearsed.

"Rose I can't." Dimitri told me, "In fact I need to talk to you."

"About what? How you love me but won't love me? Damn you." I felt tired again and just gave up on the argument.

Then door suddenly slammed open and we jumped apart. It was Six in the morning, who was going to be awake at this time, let alone in the gym?

Tasha Ozera walked in with an excited look on her scarred but pretty face. Thank god she didn't seem to notice anything going on between Dimitri and I. It was well known that Tasha was interested in Dimitri and had even offered to have his kids if he became her guardian. It was petty but she annoyed me at times even though I admired her strength at other times.

"Dimka, there you are!." She turned to me. "Hey Rose, how are you?"

"Hey Tasha." I smiled at her. "I didn't know you were still in the academy." Tasha had arrived right after the attack on St. Vladimirs had happened. She was here as moral support for those in shock after the accident. She talked to many of the students and helped comfort them. It was very admirable.

"Good Morning Tasha, what brings you here?" Dimitri asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to tell you that I already talked to Alberta and set everything up." Her eyes twinkled and she beamed.

"Wow, Tasha you're really happy about something. And what's been set up?" I asked confused. Dimitri started walking toward Tasha.

"Oh didn't Dimitri tell you? He's-" But Dimitri interrupter her and lead her out of the gym. He mumbled something to her, she nodded and waved at me as she left.

"Hey Tasha, We're kind of busy right now. I'll find you later and you can tell me all you want to tell me."

"Oh sure." She kissed Dimitri once on the cheek and left. That was weird. She'd never kissed Dimitri on the cheek before. I must have looked confused because Dimitri walked closer to me and opened his mouth to explain that Tasha was very happy because she had received good news.

"Oh, what kind of good news?" Dimitri looked me in the eye and the only thing I saw there was regret and a little fear. My breath quickened.

"What's the good news?" I asked a little desperately.

"Well there's a little bit of bad news that comes along with her good news. Tasha will be going home soon and she won't be going alone."

"What do you mean she won't be going alone? You took the job, didn't you? You're going to be her guardian" The words hurt coming out of my mouth.

He nodded once. Before I could even think I walked over to him and slapped him across the face. "Asshole."

"Wait, I can explain, Rose!" I glared at him, I don't think I've ever been mad at anyone like this before. I walked out before I could do anything I might regret later and left a piece of me behind.

Thanks for reading, I hope you guys liked it. Please Review. :)


	2. Chapter 2: Surprise

**Hitting Rock Bottom**

**(This is the re edited version of the second chapter. You will know if the next chapter is re edited by this same Author's Note.)**

**Disclaimer: I never really got why this was important but whatever. Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy. I own nothing except for love for Adrian.**

**_Previously:_**_"What do you mean she won't be going alone? You took the job, didn't you? You're going to be her guardian" The words hurt coming out of my mouth._

_He nodded once. Before I could even think I walked over to him and slapped him across the face. "Asshole."_

_"Wait, I can explain, Rose!" I glared at him, I don't think I've ever been mad at anyone like this before. I walked out before I could do anything I might regret later and left a piece of me behind_****

Chapter 2: Surprise!  
  
What was that? I turned my head and peered into the patch of woods behind me. Nothing. God this was a stupid idea.

I was in the middle of the forest behind St. Vladimirs. I came out here looking for some peace, you know like in the movies when a hero or heroine go somewhere like the beach or a garden or whatever looking for an epiphany

Unfortunately since there was a lack of beaches and gardens at St. Vladimirs, I settled for this damned dreary forest. I hoped that i would find a patch of green grass and lie down looking up at the blue sky. But apparently since my life really sucks and someone really wants me to see that, there was snow everywhere and when I looked at the sky it was gray. But whatever, I'm staying until I get my damn epiphany. I really wanted to know what I should do now. Of course I still love Dimitri but do I ignore him until he leaves or do I fight for him to stay. Maybe I should hit him again, then I'll be responsible and try to talk to him, but only after the hitting.

When I finally found a semi-dry tree trunk and sat down I realized my problem was that I couldn't relax because I couldn't sit still. I felt jittery and mad, I felt like beating someone up, well not just anyone but him. Dimitri Asshole Belikov.

Just thinking the name made me even angrier. There he was acting like everything was normal when it turned out he was with Tasha Ozera. I felt like strangling both of them.

But that isn't fair. A small part of my mind said. Tasha didn't do anything wrong in her mind. She didn't know you were together. I still have a right to be mad. And I was. I still felt anxious and hurt. So unlike normal Rose who would go eat sweets to lighten up or maybe deteriorate someones ego I did a very stupid thing. I punched a tree.

"Holy Shit!" I yelled. I tried to open my hand but a white hot searing pain ran through it.  
My pinky and middle finger looked broken. Little pieces of bark were stuck between my fingers and when I looked up I saw I hadn't even put a dent in the tree. Somehow that was what made me the angriest. I felt a little out of control, similar to when I was overcome by the darkness right before the attack, before Dimitri and I-. Dammit calm down Rose, control your anger. I focused on my breathing and the pain in my hand. I had to get to the doctor.

I dragged myself out of the damn woods heading toward the Doctor's office but then I thought better of it. All the doctor could do is put my hand in a cast and let my hand heal for two weeks, But Lissa could fix it in less than a minute. I hurried to Lissa, keeping my broken hand close to my stomach.

"Lissa!" I barged right into her room just in time to see Lissa and Christian spring apart. Whoops, I didn't mean to interrupt them but I didn't think to check the bond if she was busy or not. But it was around 7:30 in the morning, couldn't they stay away from each other for a few hours?

"Don't you ever knock?" Christian scowled.

"Nope." I turned to Lissa who was blushing. "Lissa I need a favor."

"Um, sure. What is it?" I showed her my hand, wincing when I moved it.

"What happened? Rose what did you do now?"

"Not important, just fix it and then I'll leave you guys to it." I joked weakly, I was in a lot of pain. Lissa blushed even more while Christian rolled his eyes. Lissa didn't ask me any more questions and took my arm and through the bond I felt the spirit surge through her. I winced when the bones righted them but soon the pain was gone and I could flex my fingers without wincing.

"Thanks Liss." I was about to walk out. But Lissa pulled on my hand.

"What happened Rose?" The pain from my hand had distracted me from Dimitri but now It all came back to me and I felt my face harden.

"Nothing." Lissa didn't know about Dimitri and me, and I wasn't going to change that now that it was over.

"Your mad, did something happen?"

"Don't worry about it, It's a guardian thing." I pleaded her with my eyes to leave it at that.

"Then maybe you should talk to Dimitri." She offered.

"I wouldn't want to disturb him or anything." I scowled, Lissa noticed and frowned.

"Is it because of-" Lissa started but Christian interrupted.

"Oh, did you hear Rose? Dimitri's going to become Tasha's guardian." I winced. but this time it wasn't from pain.

"Yeah I heard." I managed. "Listen I gotta go. They're having a meeting soon of the field experience thing." After the Strigoi attack the Guardians decided to temporarily end field experience but after some debate they were going to tell us what was up. I was pretty apathetic about the whole thing. I had already fought plenty of Strigoi, what was protecting a Moroi from another guardian.

"Okay Rose, but if you want to talk i'll be right here."

"Thanks but I'm sure you'll be busy" I murmured, glancing at Christian. Lissa didn't hear but Christian did.

"What was that Buffy?" He smirked.

"Nothing Sparky. I'll see you guys later." I walked out closing the door behind me. I walked into my room changing out of my dirty clothes. Although I didn't sweat today, I was pretty dirty from playing in the dirt. I managed to throw on a pair of jeans and white tank top. I let my hair down and grabbed my stake(they didn't take it away after the attack) and walked out.

"Hey Rose." Eddie Castile walked up to me as I walked out of the Girl's Dorms. Eddie had been doing poorly since the attack. A friend of his had been killed so he'd been mourning in his room since the attack. I hadn't seen him since. The school had been shut down since the attack and all classes were cancelled while new guardians had been called in and many funerals were held.

"Hey." I turned and gave him a half smile. It must not have looked too normal because he asked if anything is wrong.

"Its nothing Eddie. I'm just really tired." I assured him and he nodded. I watched him out of the corner of my eye while we walked to the cafeteria. He seemed a lot better, but more haunted. Eddie was one of my close friends and I hadn't seen him this upset since the Mason accident.

We were silent until we entered the cafeteria. The tables were gone but there were still chairs lined up. I hadn't seen many of these people in a few weeks. I saw Meredith near the front frowning. I also saw a few of the other Dhampirs in my class but they all looked so different, so grim. I remember when I had made my first kill and how much I had matured from that experience. It hurt me to see that everyone else had gone through the same thing. Eddie and I sat near the back, We didn't have to worry about awkward silences because Alberta came out as soon as we sat down.

"Okay, now we all know why we're here, we're here to discuss your field experience. After a few weeks of discussion, we have decided to continue the field experience. But since there was a slight...drop of students," I flinched. "we are going to assign different Moroi to some of you..."  
That was all I needed to hear. I was probably still going to be assigned to Christian so I didn't have much to worry about. I zoned in and out of the speech, feeling miserable. Was this feeling of sadness from the attack and Dimitri ever going to go away? I thought.

It was a weird feeling, I had never felt this bad about a guy before. I couldn't breathe right. My eyes burned but I couldn't cry. I wished I could just get away from here.

"... Guardian Belikov," My head snapped up, "has agreed to train you for these classes."

What classes? Rose can't you listen for once in your damn life? Stop spacing out, this might be important.

"What classes is she talking about?" I leaned toward Eddie.

"The one-on-one training. Every single one of us will have to train with Belikov at least once a week." My jaw dropped.

"I... I thought he was leaving." I whispered. Eddie glanced back at the chairs behind Alberta which held Stan, Dimitri and some other guardians. I looked too and met Dimitri's stare. He looked guilty and looked away from me. My face hardened and I turned back to Eddie.

"Apparently not." He stated. Damn, now I really will have to be responsible and talk things out with him.****

I'm always reading in these types of Fanfics where Rose breaks down crying and jumps off cliffs(whoops, wrong fandom) but I don't think that's what the Rose I love would do. She's an incredibly strong female character and she doesn't need a man to be happy, even if he does wear a duster and have a Russian accent.  
Please Review. They are really appreciated. Bye. :)


	3. Chapter 3: Biting Back

**Hitting Rock Bottom**

**(This is the re edited version of the third chapter. You will know if the next chapter is re edited by this same Author's Note.)**

_**Previously:**__ "I... I thought he was leaving." I whispered. Eddie glanced back at the chairs behind Alberta which held Stan, Dimitri and some other guardians. I looked too and met Dimitri's stare. He looked guilty and looked away from me. My face hardened and I turned back to Eddie._

_"Apparently not." He stated. Damn, now I really will have to be responsible and talk things out with him_

Chapter 3: Biting Back

After a half hour I walked out of the meeting with Christians folder again. I didn't bother looking it over since I still remembered everything it said. Eddie and I were talking or rather Eddie was talking and I was listening.

Before we turned the corner a deep voice with a Russian accent called my name. I ignored it and kept walking.

"Rose!" I paused and turned around.

"Yes Guardian Belikov?" There was ice in my voice.

"Would it be alright if I talked to you for a moment?" I grimaced.

"Actually Guardian Belikov, I'm rather busy at the moment. Maybe later." I turned again but this time he grabbed my arm. I resisted the urge to throw him against the ground. He turned to Eddie.

"Mr. Castile, would it be alright if I spoke to Rose for a minute?" Eddie shrugged and left. I took my hand back.

"I thought you were leaving. Isn't that why Tasha was so giddy this morning. Congratulations by the way, I know she's been waiting for this for a while. " I kept my face emotionless, my words were polite but they sounded harsh.

"We're not leaving yet. Alberta only agreed to let me leave only if I stayed for the rest of field experience, but Rose, I-" Dimitri started, but i interrupted.

"That's only what? Two months? Three? I'm sure you'll be with your beloved Tasha soon. Well..." An idea came up, It hurt to say but If I was going down, I wasn't gonna go down alone. "unless someone mentions a few cases of sexual harassment to Alberta or maybe Tasha."

Dimitri's eyes widened. Of course I wasn't serious, but he deserved a good scare. He saw the maliciousness on my face and his eyes hardened and he glared at me. "All that would do is get you in trouble. Your guardian status would be ruined."

"Don't be stupid Dimitri. I'm not going to be ruined at all, I'm an innocent teenage girl. If anything your status will be ruined. Tasha won't want to be with you anymore."

"You would tell Alberta about our relationship?" He whispered. "Only because I chose to leave with Tasha?" He swore. "Roza I-"

"Rose! My name is Rose."

"I'm not choosing her over you, Rose. I'm leaving because It's good for both of us. You need to grow up, a lot more than I thought apparently. I'm not going to marry her anything like that. I'm just going to go away for a while."

"You're going to leave me, I can't believe that after everything we'd been through you would just leave. Damn you. Everything was going perfectly and now you're going to leave. Why? Why Dimitri? What are you going to do with Tasha. It just doesn't make sense."

"I'm leaving to make the both of us stronger. I realized that if I stay here, you won't learn. You're nothing like I've ever seen before, Rose. You need someone other than me right now. I don't want to leave, but I will because I have to."

"What kind of logic is that?" I scowled. "Just, do whatever you want Dimitri. I'll see you in hell."

I turned and he grabbed my shoulder. I didn't think twice and flipped him over my head so that he landed face down on the pavement. He definitely didn't expect it and was totally unprepared. I heard something break, probably an arm or something, and Dimitri groan.

"Good bye, Guardian Belikov." I walked off. I didn't feel bad for leaving him. I was only showing him the same courtesy he'd shown me. Walking away from someone while he's in need was exactly what he was doing to me.

* * *

No sooner had I entered my door when Stan called on me telling me Alberta wanted to talk to me. I shrugged and he grabbed my arm and lead me to Alberta's office.

"Do you know what she wants?" Stan shook his head and I stayed silent the rest of the walk. When we reached Alberta's office, Stan left and I walked inside.

"Stan said you wanted me?" I looked at Alberta and was kind of surprised to see that she looked stern and hard. What did I do this time?

"Rose," She started. "You've made some mistakes before but allegedly assaulting-just because of you own personal vengeance-a teacher. That is completely unacceptable."

"What are you talking about?" Alberta rolled her eyes.

"You attacked Guardian Belikov."

"Dimitri's not a teacher" Did he rat me out or did someone see? "and that was because of a lesson he was trying to teach I understand if you thought It looked like I attacked him but-"

"Rose, Guardian Belikov went to the Clinic with the help of Tasha Ozera and when he asked what happened, he clearly said you attacked him for no reason whatsoever and that you had been rather vicious in the past. He said it wasn't the first time you had attacked him before and that the only reason he hadn't turned you in before is because he didn't to ruin your career."

Dimitri told them I attacked him? What the hell? "Rose, I will not tolerate any disrespect directed toward either myself or any of my Guardians.

"I can explain that-"

"I don't need an explanation Rose. It seems that you are no longer fit to stay at this school for the moment. I'll have to send you away to-"

"Send me away? What about Lissa, and we're starting field experience. If I don't finish, I don't graduate!" She couldn't just send me away without hearing my side of the story could she? No, this was all my fault. I shouldn't have hit Dimitri. I was an adult now, and now I was going to take responsibility for my actions. I thought of all the places she would send me, please don't send me to prison.

"Rose, I'm going to send you to another school, one in Washington state. Lands-bridge Academy. You're leaving as soon as possible."

Bet you did NOT see that coming!

P.S. Reviews get you Previews. :)


	4. Chapter 4: New Beginnings

**Holy Guacamole! 25 Reviews. You guys are the best readers in the whole frigging world! If I could, as a present to my amazing and I mean AHHH-MAZING reviewers I would send you all a hundred dollars and a chocolate basket but since I'm poor, Im going to make this the longest chapter Ive ever written. That means like 2000+ :) Well that's long for me. I'm a usually short+sweet person. **

**And I will send everyone who reviews for this a sneak peek on friday the 23rd. **

**This was all written in school. My Science teacher says Hi!. :)**

**Chapter 4: New Beginnings**

_**Previously: **__"Send me away? What about Lissa, and we're starting field experience. If I don't finish, I don't graduate!" _

_"Rose, I'm going to send you to another school, one in Washington state. Landsbridge Academy. You're leaving tomorrow."_

"But Alberta! Thats not fair, you haven't heard my damn side of the story!" _This has got to be the worst day ever._

She raised an eyebrow. " You've got two minutes to tell me what the hell is going on. I know you Rose, this isn't something you would do. If someone told me a few weeks ago that you were overpowering Gaurdian Belikov, I would have called them crazy but now that I saw you fight during the attack," we both winced, " I just don't know."

"Well I..." I know that this morning I had threatened Dimitri about reporting him but on the inside. I knew I hadn't meant one word of it. A little part of me knew that I hadn't meant it because I was still in love with Dimitri and wouldn't stop for a while.

Maybe thats why he hadn't seemed worried when I threatened him. It was almost as if he knew me better than I knew myself. I felt tears build up but I refused to let them fall over.

"It's the bond!" I yell out finally, hating myself. "Whenever Lissa's mad it sort of leaks into me through the bond and it sort of builds up inside of me until I'm murderous. I never said anything to Dimitri because I was worried you guys would send me to a mental ward or something."

Alberta studied my facial expression, I know she saw the hurt in my face and the tears that had built up in my eyes. Finally she looked away seeming satisfied.

"I belive you Rose, but what do I say to the Gaurdians? They already heard about your attacks." I bit my lip. _Shit. _

"Why don't you send me to this school in Washington anyway?" It hurt coming out of my mouth but maybe a break is what I needed. I knew that I couldn't take another day in St. Vlads. Let alone another 2 months.

"Are you sure?" Alberta seemed surprised.

"Yeah."

"Then start packing Rose, your taking the first plane out of Montana." I nodded and she showed me out. As I walked out of the Gaurdians Headquaters, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to see Adrian Ivashkov **(A.N Insert a billion girls screams and an "I LOVE YOU ADRIAN!" here. :)) **looking at me with a sullen expression.

"I heard." It took me a second to realize he was talking about Dimitri. Adrian knew all about my relationship with Dimitri. Which was preety weird because even Lissa, my best friend for years, hadn't known. He pulled me into a hug, and I didn't pull back. The tears that had wanted to come out earlier with Alberta and the hurt I'd had all day came out of hiding and I wrapped my arms around him and cried.

He didn't say anything and led me back to his room without anyone noticing me. Adrian sat me down on the couch and I cried some more. I wasn't sobbing but my nose became snotty and I grabbed a tissue.

"Thanks Adrian." I smiled meekly at him. "I really needed that."

"I know my Little Dhampir." He rubbed my back. I grimaced, _Okay, now this was getting uncomfortable. _

"Well," I said, untangling myself. "I'd better go pack."

"For what?" Crap, I wasn't going to tell anyone I left and I figured Lissa and the rest of my friends would find out themselves.

"Well, i'm leaving tomorrow."

"What? Where?"

"Washington." I walked towards the door wanting to end the coversation.

"Why are you going there?"

"Because I can't take another day in this place." I make sure to leave a harshness in my voice, so that he can get the message that this conversation is over.

"Oh, ok Rose. I can tell by your aura that you definately need to get away from here." He paused, "Want me to walk you to your room?"

"No. Bye Adrian." I opened the door and looked back again."And dont tell Lissa."

I ran back to my room, not wanting another confrontation with anyone. Outside my room someone had left a suitcase with a letter. I dragged it inside and opened the letter.

_Dear Rose, Your flight leaves tomorrow at 10 PM be in the courtyard at 7 PM. Dont be late. Im sorry. -Guardian Petrov. _

I sighed and opened my drawers. 10 minutes later I was done, I had nothing else to do and it was only 3 AM. I decided the best thing to do was to go eat something and come back and sleep. I was worn out from todays events and I was starving since I hadn't eaten anything.

I walked out of the room and toward the dining room where they were serving lunch. I grabbed myself a couple cheeseburges and a bowl of fries and walked toward an empty table.

I was kind of hoping to be alone but soon Christian and Lissa arrived, both greeting me and then started talking to eachother. Then Eddie appeared and started chatting with me, I answered his questions with one worded answers and he seemed to get the message.

A little while later, I heard another chair slid back next to me and I looked up and saw Dimitri-apparently his injuries from my "attack" weren't very serious because all his had was a bruise underneath one eye-he was pulling the chair out for Tasha. I heard her giggle and sit. Dimitri ignored me and sat on the other side of her.

"Hey Christian, Lissa, Eddie, Rose." I nodded once at Tasha's greeting and kept eating.

"So I hear your leaving Rose." Damn it Tasha. Lissa's head snapped up.

"Where are you leaving Rose?" Lissa asked.

"I'm going to Washington." I didn't want to lie to Lissa, not when I was this close to leaving her.

"Why?"

"Alberta and I agreed that my training would be more better if I went to a different school."

"But," Lissa started "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow Lissa, i'm sorry. I didn't want anyone to know but then Adrian-"

"Adrian Ivashkov knew about this before me, your best friend!"

"What about Adrian Ivashkov?" Said a voice behind me. _Oh, great. It's a party._

"Nothing," I said getting up, "Look Lissa, I really don't feel like talking about this. I'm leaving tomorrow and won't be back till the end of term and you can't do anything about it."

"But, Rose. It's an entire two months."

"Don't worry Liss, you'll have Christian and Eddie and...Tasha to keep you company." I pretended to look at my watch. I'd better go, Bye you guys. See you later." I held all there eyes once. Well not _all _their eyes and left quickly before any of them could stop me.

* * *

"That stupid alarm clock." I fell down from my bed trying to reach the blaring phone that was almost within the reach of my fingers.

I got out of my bed and rubbed my eyes. I saw a suitcase on the floor and wondered why it was there. Then I remembered, I looked at the time. 6:45. Shit!

I skip the shower and put a pair of loose jeans and an orange Tshirt. I brushed my hair and grabbed my suitcase and walked out. The drive to the airport was really short and so were all the transactions after that. Before I knew it I was sitting in 1st class, next to a blonde on her cell phone, waiting for the plane to start.

The seatbelt sign lit up and I sighed.

_Well, here I go. To a new place. A place away from the drama that was usually in my life. _

I put in my ipod and listened to a Taylor Swift song. I rolled my eyes as the plane left the ground.

**Chapter 4 is Finito! :) I hope you liked it. Please R&R. **


	5. Chapter 5: Russian Gods

**Wow! You guys are amazing. I mean WOW. :) Hope you love Love LOVE this story. **

_**Previously: **__Well, here I go. To a new place. A place away from the drama that was usually in my life. _

_I put in my ipod and listened to a Taylor Swift song. I rolled my eyes as the plane left the ground. _

Washington is exactly how I expected it to be. Wet and dreary. I thought looking out the window of the plane and tried to look at the sun but it was deeply hidden behind a thick layer of clouds.

We had already landed and now everyone was stretching. Well I guess everyone knew what Washingtons weather is like since that damn Twilight movie. I grabbed my bag and walked out of the plane. I retrieved my suitcase and walked out unto the platform.

"Rosemarie Hathaway?" Said a deep voice next to me. I winced once but turned to see a buff bald guy with brown eyes.

"Its just Rose." He nodded once and wrote something down on a clipboard he had.

"This way." He walked toward the doors. I followed him and was surprised at the Honda waiting for us. Usually the academys provided boring and though they were new, they were pretty ordinary. I considered my self a more outspoken car person.

"So, what's the academys name?" I needed to hear someone else's voice, needed to distract myself.

"Madisons Academy" He grunted.

"Oh thats cool, My school was named after St. Vladimir." He didn't say anything.

"Great coversationalist." I murmered.

After another hour of boring and tedious driving we finally reached a big black intricate gate. On the side there was a small booth with a guardian inside. My graceful driver grunted a few words to the guy in the toll booth and he(the guy in the toll booth) pulled on a lever and the gate opened with a very loud squeak.

Behind the gates was a damn mansion. It was smaller than St. Vlads but it clearly had a lot of money.

Me and baldy got out of the car and he led me inside the building. Always keeping 5 steps behind me. No one was in the halls so I presumed that they were all at class. It was wierd walking through a another school. I had never been to another vampire academy before.

I wondered if they were doing their field experience too. After a few halls we arrived outside a big wooden door.

"The headmaster's quarters is right through those doors, he'll explain everything to you." I nodded. I glanced at the guardian who was now walking away and then to the big wooden door.

I knocked hesitantly and waited, a deep voice called,

"Come on in." I unsuspectantly opened the wrong door because inside this one was a damn god and not like the god Dimitri was. I means his looks, he had dirty blonde hair and green eyes. He looked perfect, a god. What the hell? Didn't I just leave St. Vlads escaping Russian gods?

"Ah, you must be Rosemarie Hathaway." He had a slight Russian accent. Damn.

"It's just Rose." He nodded once smiling, I couldn't help but look into his hazel eyes.

"So its says in your records that you were a fairly well student but with a few problems in the last couple of years. Exactly why did you take Princess Dragomir away from a safe environment for the past 2 years?" I grimaced, How the hell did they not put that on my records?

"It's a long story but basically, this assho- Victor Dashkov was pretty much harrassing Lissa and I didn't know who it was at the time so I took Lissa away to protect her." I explained.

"Yes, I've heard about the Victor Dashkov incident." He pursed those full soft-looking lips of his. I nodded once and looked down as he looked through some other files.

"I'm impressed Rose, even though you were gone for two years you managed to catch up in your physical classes."

"I had an okay mentor." I growled. He raised a brow but said nothing.

"Dimitri Belikov?" My head snapped up.

"How do you know that?"

"It's in your files."

"Oh." After a few more minutes of shuffling papers, he spoke up.

"Well, the good thing of being headmaster of a small school is that things here run pretty quickly." He handed me a piece of paper that he claimed was my new schedule.

1st Period Advanced Guardian Combat Techniques

2nd Period Adv. Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection 3

3rd Period Adv. Weight Training and Conditioning

4th Period Senior Language Arts (Novices)

-Lunch-

5th Period Russian Language

6th Period Pre-calculus

7th Period Moroi Culture 4

8th Period Band I

"Band? Why am I in band?"

"Well since all the other electives are full, band is the only one open."

"But I don't even play an instrument."

"I know, your in a freshman class."

"But thats dumb, why don't you put me in like art or cooking, something I might use In life."

"You don't strike me as a making meat casseroles and pottery kind of girl."

"You guessed right." I smirked. "But do I strike you as a glasses and pigtails type of girl?"

"You've got a point." He laughed. "Let me check some things."

After another minute of ruffling through more papers, he finally smiled at me,

"The only thing other than Band would be Tutoring. I don't think you had it at your old school, but its when you go to some of the lower levels to tutor. Preferably freshman but sophmores can be tutored too." This sounds promising.

"Okay. I'll choose that."

"Alright, let me print out a new schedule than." He handed me my new schedule and a map.

"Well, we weren't really expecting a new student so I guess I'll just show you the school."

"Oh and where exactly am I going to stay?"

"That will be the first place we'll visit. Room 311." He led me out of the buildiing and to another one that I assumed was the Dhampir dorm. My room was on the third floor and while we walked I saw that no one was in the halls. I had almost forgotten that It wa technically 'night' even though I wasn't tired at all.

"Do I have a roomate?"

"No, everyone has they're own room." I felt myself relieved.

"And what about your field experience?"

"That doesn''t start until next month."

"But doesn't that give you like 2 months?"

"No, It gives us 3, this school starts later than your old one."

"Oh." Great. We stopped in front of a white door with the numbers 311 on the door in silver.

"Here we are. Go ahead and open it." I opened the unlocked door and looked at my new room.

"Wow. This is...nice." There was a full bed and dresser, a small flat screen TV in the corner of the room. It was a lot biggger than my old room. My suitcase was in the corner of the room.

"Thank you. So how about we go see the rest of the school."

We spent the next hour walking around the school. I asked questions like how big was the school and If the curriculum is harder. What I found out that There were about 300 students in the entire school and the classes were relatively the same. After the long walk, he showed me back to dorm.

"The rooms are organized very easily, the 3 in 311 is the floor and the 11 would mean that your room is on the left side." I nodded smiling and telling myself that those eyelashes are wasted on a guy.

As I walked in I heard him say,

"Oh and I've arranged that you start your classes tomorrow. That will give you an entire day to pack. The meal times are in one of the papers I have given you. I hope you enjoy Madison's academy."

"I'm sure I will." I smiled at him one more time but when I closed the dorr it turned into a grimace.

**SOOOOO sorry I haven't updated. I could make up a list of really good excuses but I would still feel bad. Thanks sooo much for reading and reviewing. I love you guys. Next chapter will be up soon and we'll see how Rose's first day will go. :)**


	6. Chapter 6: Queen Bees And Chapels

**Hey you guys. This one was written over Thanksgiving Break. Hope you guys have a happy turkey day. **

**By the way I didn't write the headmasters name. Headmaster Anthony Drozdov.**

**Chapter 6: Queen bees and chapels**

_**Previously: **__"Oh and I've arranged that you start your classes tomorrow. That will give you an entire day to pack. The meal times are in one of the papers I have given you. I hope you enjoy Madison's academy."_

_"I'm sure I will." I smiled at him one more time but when I closed the door it turned into a grimace._

I spent a lot of the time I had free unpacking. It turned out to take a lot more time than I had thought It would. I hung up a few photos I'd had of my friends back home. There were pictures of s at the ski resort during Christmas, another one had Lissa, Eddie, Adrian and I were all grinning in one of the classrooms.

I frowned when I saw the next one, it was of Dimitri and I. He had his arm around my shoulders and we were both grinning. The grin didn't reach Dimitri's eyes though. His eyes were guarded. I ripped that picture in half, separating him from me. A little dramatic I know, but after what I've been through in the last couple of months. I could definately be dramatic.

I looked at the clock beside my bed and saw that it was almost Dinner time. My stomach growled at the thought of it. I thought of walking out of my room the way I was but then I thought that If this school was anything like St. Vlads, then chances are that gossip has already spread around the fact that there was a new student.

_Well then, why not give Madisons Academy something to talk about? _I gave myself 40 minutes to shower and change and then I would head to the banquet hall.

I went full out. I showered and blow dried my hair so that it fell into wavy curls around my shoulders, I wore a red blouse and dark jeans, added a touch of eyeliner and my nazar and was out the door with my map.

I noticed that Anthony Drozdov(The headmaster) had marked all my classes and a few routes. I smiled and followed one of the routes to the cafeteria.

I was almost half way there when I finally passed someone. He was tall with green eyes and brown hair. He looked like a junior, a junior who was staring at me with wide eyes.

I raised an eyebrow and felt my mouth go into a smirk. I opened my mouth to say something but was interrupted.

", I trust that you have a hall pass." I turned and saw Anthony, who was giving the brunnette a stern look.

"I'm on my way back to class, Headmaster Drozdov." And with one last look at me he turned the corner. I looked back at Anthony.

"Hey." I smiled.

"Rose, I'm guessing you were heading toward the cafeteria?"

"Yeah, I'm following the map you gave me."

"Good, but you're going to be pretty early. Class doesn't end for another 15 minutes."

"Oh."

"How about I show you some of the places I didn't get to show you yesterday."

"Like?"

"Well, like the church, are you religious Rose?"

"Not particularly." I grimaced, we walked down the hallway, avoiding other students.

"Rose, can I ask you something?"

"Depends." I shrugged.

"Why did you stiffen yesterday when I mentioned your former mentor?" I stopped walking. My action surprised him and he turned quickly on his heel to face me and ended up a whole lot closer than he expected. I stood still and looked up at him.

His lips were only a few inches away from mine and I eyed them. I looked up and felt shivers go up my arm when I realized that he was staring at me too. I couldn't read his eyes. I felt a part of my mind say how wierd this was. What the hell was it with me and older men.

Suddenly he cleared his throat and took a step back. We were silent for a few moments, I knew that he felt something too I just wondered exactly what had we shared?

"Dimitri wasn't one of my favorite mentors." I said at last, not standing the silence.

"Is that all?"

"Pretty much." We started walking again. He lead me through big wooden doors and we entered a damn castle.

It had dark brown pews that were glistening from the light coming out of the stained glass windows and a few candles that were hanging on the wall.

"This is... pretty." I murmurred.

"Is that all you have to say? Pretty?" Anthony laughed. He ignored my glare and was just about to say something when the bell rang.

"Lunch time?" I asked him.

"Lunch time." He nodded and showed me the way to the banquet hall. Now the hall was full of students. A few of them seemed to notice me, and stared before whispering to their friends.

"It's right through there." He pointed to a hall. "I've got to go or I'll be late for my meeting."

"Okay, see you later."

"Good luck Rose."

"As If I need it." I told him and walked into the hall, It was smaller than the one at but It was a whole lot more royal-like with its deep green walls and creme floors and ceilings. I walked over to the line that was now building. I got a little annoyed as I saw more people staring.

"Hey, New girl." I heard a cocky voice say behind me. I turned to see a average looking dhampir with brown hair and grey eyes.

"This new girls name is Rose." I rolled my eyes.

"Hey Rose, I'm Nate." The smile on his face looked sincere, but I didn't trust his eyes that kept looking down at my chest. "So have you figured out a place to sit yet?"

"No, I was just going to b.s. it."

"Well then, how about I show you a little hospitality and invite you to my own table." We had reached the buffet table then, I grabbed a tray and started filling it up.

"Only if you quit staring at my chest." I said bluntly. Nate laughed unembarrassed.

"Deal." He opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by a shrill voice calling out his name. Another Dhampir had come up, she had auburn colored hair with freckles across her cheek. She was gorgeous but seemed to be grimacing as she looked me over but then put a very fake smile on when she looked at Nate.

"Hey Cathy." Nate told her, "Whats up?"

"Just wondering who your new friend was." She eyed me again meanly. I gave her a look that clearly stated, 'Don't mess with me.'

"Cathy this is Rose. Rose, Cathy." Nate was oblivious to our glares.

"Oh, _shes _the new student?"

"Is there a problem with that?" I said, kind of wishing I had been born with the ability to raise one eyebrow.

"No, It's just that when Guardian Amarro, our weight training teacher, said that we would get an extreme fighter. I didn't really expect someone as... young as you. I'm the top fighter around here." I gave her a sweet smile.

"Not anymore, ginger." Nate, now seeing the competitiveness between us, laughed nervously and grabbed my arm.

"Well, I'll guess I'll see you later Cathy." He led me away.

"Bye Nate and I guess I'll seee you in combat tomorrow Rose." I gave her one last look.

"Yeah, I guess you will."

**PLEASE Review. They make me write faster. 4 More days till Last Sacrifice! :)**


	7. Chapter 7: Reputations

**Wanted to update before Christmass. :) Going to spend it with my dad in New York and don't know when I'm going to be able to upload again. Enjoy. **

_**Previously: **__"Bye Nate and I guess I'll seee you in combat tomorrow Rose." I gave her one last look._

_"Yeah, I guess you will."_

It turned out that Nate was actually pretty popular, he led me to a table with elite looking Moroi and tough looking Dhampirs. It was exactly the kind of people that I used to kill to hang out with before I ran away with Lissa.

"Guys," Nate called the table to attention and they stared at me with different expressions. Some were appreciative, some confused and others were wearing the same fake smile Cathy had given me. I refused the urge to roll my eyes. "This is Rose, shes new."

I heard a few 'hey's and 'hello's I even heard a 'sup?'. I gave them my man eater smile.

"Hey." I said languidly. Catching the eyes of some of the guys and girls. One of the girls, with blonde hair that reminded me of Lissa's, scooted over.

"Here new girl, you can sit next to me. I'm Stephanie Ivashkov."

"Thanks." I sat down and then a few of the girls near me started asking me questions.

"So where are you from?" Said a brunnette.

"St. Vladimirs, Its in Montana."

"Wasn't that school attacked?" Asked a bulky Dhampir.

"Yeah." I frowned.

"Did you fight?"

"Yeah."

"So does that mean you have marks?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah."

"Can I see them?" Nate asked, he sat in front of me.

"Now?" I looked around, people were already staring. I didn't really want them to know about my marks yet. I was kind of hoping I would surprise them with it in Weight Training.

"Is that a problem?" Said a voice that I knew was going to haunt me.

"Good to see you again Cassie." I smiled at the smirking redhead.

"It's Cathy and your in my seat."

"Thats too bad, you should have gotten here sooner."

"Whats too bad is that-" Nate interrupted.

"Here Cathy, we can make room." He moved a little and was able to make a decent amount of space. I took the last bite of the pizza I was eating and stood up.

"No its okay. Karen can have my seat, I better go get some rest before class tomorrow. I was surprised to see Stephanie stand up with me.

"I'll show you the way to the dorms. Bye you guys." I nodded a little cofused.

"See you later." I added. Steph walked with me and when we left the banquet hall, she started speaking.

"You should be carefull Rose. Catherine Damora is not someone you should mess with." I gave her an easy smile.

"I've messed with worse. I can handle her and her bad perm easily."

"Well, shes also one of the best fighters of the school. I heard a rumor saying that she could be elligible to guard Vasilisa Dragomir."

"Lissa's guardian is going to be me." I scoffed. "Its been set up for years."

"Oh, right. You know her, I heard she went to St. Vladimirs academy." I could tell Steph was impressed. "But, your Rose. Rosemarie Hathaway. Didn't you kidnap her or something?"

"Oh lord, not this again. I didn't kidnap her, we ran away because she was being stalked."

"Really? Huh. Whats your room number?" We talked a bit while we walked back. When we got to my room, It didn't look like she wanted to leave so I invited her in.

"Nice room." She fingered the pictures Id hung up earlier.

"Yeah right. It leaves something to be desired."

"I guess, so listen. This saturday is our monthly trip to Seattle. Do you want to be my shopping buddy?"

"I- what? They let you out of the school? Into Seattle?"

"Yeah, only seniors get to go and a whole bunch of guardians come. Its a way for all the novices to get practice or whatever."

"But isn't that like dangerous?"

"Not really. They keep a really good watch over us."

"Oh, well I guess. Sure, Ill be your shopping buddy." I smiled.

"Cool, wheres your schedule? I wanna see if we have any classes together." I handed it to her and she looked it over.

"Cool we have 3 classes together." Stephanie looked at her watch.

"Crap. I got to go. I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Sure, bye." She walked out the door. Suddenly I felt the entire days events crash down on me. I felt exhausted, I slowly changed into my pajamas and fell asleep.

The next morning was dreary. I was still tired but got over it when I showered. I put on a track suit and a pair of sneakers. I got my schedule and map out and headed for class.

I walked in on a fight. Two Dhampir boys were throwing punches and kicks. I looked around for a guardian and saw one inspecting the spar. I walked over and introduced myself.

"Hey Guardian Dec-something? Im Rose Hathaway."

"Guardian Decishti, and I know who you are." I recognized the guardian as the one that got me from the airport yesterday.

"Right, well I-"

"No, no, no!" Guardian Deshits yelled at the two dhampirs who were fighting. "If your opponent jumps on you, you must not just stay still, you must struggle, kick, punch. Anything!"

"That's kind of common sense?" I said out loud.

"You see!" Guardian Dechis points at me. "Even she know and she new! Come here Rose, lets see what you got to give."

"Umm, okay?" I walked slowly to the mat, tying my hair and faced the Dhampir. Who, I realized, was really hot. _God damn, Rose. Your not here for boys!_

I got into my battle mode, bending my knees and holding my arms up.

"One...two...three!" I took a step to the side. I wasn't going to attack first. My opponent realized this and jumped for me. He hit my legs but I was able to bring my knee and kick him in the chin. I jumped away and the Dhampir stood up and aimed a punch at my chest.

I blocked it and delivered a punch of my own. It went on like that for a while. I was able to get in a lot of punches but the other guy got in a few kicks. Finally, he seemed to have had enough. He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me under him.

I struggled, I managed to get my elbow free and hit him in the face. I had a quick flashback to when I had to beat Dimitri in a fight a few months ago. It felt like a long time ago but It sent a shiver through me.

I pulled him under me. I sat on his chest, holding down his arms with mine. After a little more struggling, he gave up and I let go. I slumped forward. I wasn't sweating but I was definately breathing hard.

I remembered the body under me. I gave the guy a smile.

"Hi, I'm Rose Hathaway."

"Jacob Soles, I hear your new." He gave a tired smile.

"Yeah, I guess I am." I rolled off him and stood up, noticing the audience. I guessed that this was the rest of the class. They openly stared at me, at first I thought they were surprised by my skills but then I realized that that wasn't all. In tying up my hair, I gave everyone a good look at my marks.

"Well," I saw Cathy in the audience. "who knew you were so priveleged."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Are you serious? Those marks are totally fake!" Oh lord, what an idiot!

"Want to fight me and find out whether or not they're fake?"

"I'm ready as soon as you are." She smirked.

"One..." I started.

"Two..." She went.

"Three!" I was ready to pounce when I was overwhelmed by Lissa's emotions.

**Damn, I cut off the moment of truth. I really wanted to see Rose beat up Cathy! **

**Oh well, maybe next time. By the way, who has read LAST SACRIFICE? Isn't it amazing?**

**P.S. Thanks so much for my reviewers, we made it to 60! :) I love you guys. **


	8. Chapter 8: Exceeding Expectations

**Cinderella here. How are you guys? Thanks so much for the comments. They are effing amazing! Im drinking OJ as I write and I raise my glass to you. Enjoy**

**Chapter 8: Exceeding Expectations**

_**Previously: **__"I'm ready as soon as you are." She smirked._

_"One..." I started._

_"Two..." She went._

_"Three!" I was ready to pounce when I was overwhelmed by Lissa's emotions._

I was in Lissa's head for like 10 seconds. Only enough to see Eddie get attacked by someone. I gasped and felt someone jump on me. I slammed out of Lissa's head and into my own.

I noticed a body over me and sighed. Cathy. She had jumped me when I was in Lissa's head. I kicked her off and stood up. She came at me again but I held my arms up in surrendor.

"Wait. I need to check on Lissa."

"Lissa who?" Cathy sneered.

"Vasilisa Dragomir. Shes in trouble, just give me a minute." I jumped in Lissa and saw that Eddie was fighting... Stan. Damn, it was just a field experience fight. I sighed and left her head.

"...are you doing?" Cathy was about an inch away from my face. I winced.

"Can I have some personal space?" I tried to shove her but she blocked me.

"What the hell were you doing? Spacing out?"

"No, I was in Lissa's head. We're bonded." I said this to confuse her and I was surprised to not see confusion on her face. She knew what being bonded meant? The novice in me became extremely suspicios.

"Yeah. Right. Your so frigging pathetic Hathaway, You don't want to fight me, so you make up some type of bull shit-"

"Watch your language, Miss Damora." I hadn't even noticed Anthony entering the room but there he was arms crossed and a weird expression on his face.

"Sorry Headmaster Drozdov." Cathy replied automatically, even though she was still glaring at me.

"What's your problem? I don't even know you. First you acted like a bitch in the banquet hall, and now you claim that my marks are fake. Are you insane?"

"You are so full of your self-" Anthony caught off her whining.

"They're real."

"What?" Cathy and I said together.

"Rose's marks are real. She saved 3 Moroi and a Dhampir from being killed by Strigoi and she fought and killed when her school was attacked." I felt a pang go through me when he mentioned the spokane accident. "And Princess Vasilisa Dragomir and Rose _are_ bonded like Saint Vladimir and his guardian Anna."

I smirked at Cathy. "There you go."

"Whatever, can we fight now?" She rolled her eyes.

"Actually," Anthony interrupted. "If you don't mind, Rose, would you mind coming with me?"

"Sure." I shrugged, I eyed Cathy as we walked out. "We'll continue this later."

"As long as you don't cry when I kick the shit out of you."

"Good luck _trying_ kicking the shit out of me without breaking a nail. Then we'll see who'll be crying." I heard a few giggles from our audience. I gave them a quick smile and walked behind Anthony as he left the gym.

"You know, It's not very smart of you to antagonize Catherine like that."

"Why? Don't you think I could take her?" I gave him a haughty look.

"How should I know Rose? I've never seen you fight and Catherine is well known for her skills."

"Well if you would have walked in five minutes earlier, you would have seen me pin down that Jacob guy."

"Jacob? You mean Jacob Soles?" Disbelief was written all over his face.

"I guess."

"Huh. Two days here and you've already exceeded my expectations."

"Didn't you read my files or whatever? I'm not exactly a straight A student in academics but in Physical contact stuff, Im pretty much top of the class."

"Well, your schools grading is a lot different than this schools."

"Different how?" We turned a corner.

"St. Vladimirs is a less... advanced than Madisons Academy."

"Oh. I didn't know that."

"Not many people do." He shook his head. "Only very elite students are admitted into Madisons."

"Huh, and Alberta thought I'd be elite-enough to come here?"

"Exactly."

"She has a lot more faith in me than I thought she did." I stated. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I wanted to show you the student your tutoring."

"Oh. Who is he?"

"A sophmore, he's very behind on his combat techniques."

"Hold on, _He?_"

"Yes, he's a young man. Is that a problem?"

"Well let's just say that I'm not very good in teacher/student relationships."

"Thats too bad. You chose tutoring and so you will tutor Jason."

"I don't see why I cant tutor a girl."

"You can't tutor a girl because there aren't any girls."

"But..." I couldn't think of another excuse. "Damn."

"Why?"

"Because, I'm not good at teacher/student relationships. My luck is shitty." He ignored my cursing but laughed.

"One day Rose, I will understand you."

"Lets hope not." We arrived at a classroom in the Sophmore wing. Anthony walked in and asked a pretty Moroi if he could borrow Jason. She agreed and I heard some shuffling as Jason got out of his seat. Out came a scrawny looking kid with red hair. I was surprised to see the lack of muscle on him. Dhampirs were known for their strength. Jason stared at me.

"Hey Jason, I'm Rose. I'll be your tutor."


	9. Chapter 9: My Apprentice

**Chaper 9: My Apprentence**

_**Previously: **__We arrived at a classroom in the Sophmore wing. Anthony walked in and asked a pretty Moroi if he could borrow Jason. She agreed and I heard some shuffling as Jason got out of his seat. Out came a scrawny looking kid with red hair. I was surprised to see the lack of muscle on him. Dhampirs were known for their strength. Jason stared at me._

_"Hey Jason, I'm Rose. I'll be your tutor."_

My first tutoring session with Jason didn't go as well asI thought it would.

I had just gotten out of Moroi culture class when I saw a crowd of students. I walked up to the first person I could find and asked them what was going on.

"Some freshman is getting beat up by a bunch of juniors." She looked a little disgusted.

"Shit. I'll be right back." Bullying was disgusting and it was one of my many pet peeves.

"Move out of my way!" I yelled at the group of students in front of me. Some took a step to the side but others ignored me. I shoved my way to the middle and saw a blonde I didn't know holding Jason in a headlock while his other friends laughed. I did the first thing I thought of and grabbed the blonde, he was so surprised that he let Jason go.

"What the hell?" He pulled his arm back and would have punched me if I hadn't grabbed his arm and held _his_ head in a headlock.

"Not so funny when It happens to you huh?" I growled.

"Let me go!" His face was turning red. A friend of his tried to pull me off but I kicked him where it would hurt the most. It was a dirty move but considering what they were doing I could tell they weren't above fighting dirty.

Another tried to help but I let go of the blonde, who fell to the ground, and punched him in the face and kicked another one behind the knees to make him fall. The crowd had gone silent.

I smirked my _Yeah, I'm a badass, _smirk.

"Shows over, you guys can leave now." No one moved. "I said, _now."_

That got a reaction. The crowd dispersed slowly but surely.

"You didn't have to do that?" A sharp voice said. I turned quickly to see Jason, of all people, glaring at me.

"Excuse me?"

"I would have handled it eventually."

"Yeah, it looked like you had it completely under control." I scoffed. Jason's face turned red.

"Lets go, we'll be late." I led him to the gym, I was proud of myself for knowing where it was. I had already been to the gym three times today.

"So, what are we doing first? Boxing? Weight training? Wrestling?" He seemed to have forgotten his bad mood before and now looked like an eager student.

"How about stretching?" I lifted my leg against the wall and reached my toes. Jason looked dissapointed but stretched without complaint.

"What about now?"

"We run." I remembered back to when I returned to the academy, Dimitri had me running everyday for weeks as my stamina increased. I guessed I understood why he did it now. Poor little Jasons stamina must be about as good as his muscle percent.

"What? What about-"

"Look, the first thing we got to so to get you into better shape is run. Then we'll work on other things."

"But, you can't do that."

"_I _can do whatever I want to do during these lessons. I am the teacher here, you are the student. Just do what as I say and you'll be kicking asses in no time."

"Whatever, I'm out of here." Jason turned to leave but I leaped at him and pulled him down under me.

"Did you forget the part of how _I'm _in charge here?" I glared at him. "You will do what I say because I know best. I didn't get where I was being a smartass at anyone who tried to help." I was lying but he didn't have to know that.

"Get off me!" He struggled.

"Since you're so sure of yourself why don't you make me?"

"Ok, I'll do what you say, just get off me." He grumbled and I let him up, "What do you need me to do?"

"Run, since it's my first day let's start off with 5 miles." He ran toward the running side of the gym and began his laps. After 2 miles, he had some trouble.

"The reason you keep tripping is because you're not picking up your legs. Don't forget to breathe through your nose! Breathing through your mouth will make you more tired!" He didn't respond but followed my tips.

After A few miles of running. I let him come in and I showed him the weights I wanted him to do. I saw that he couldn't stand what I'd assaigned him so I lessened the weights. He ignored me the rest of the time and let himself out as the bell rings.

I stood there for a second trying to understand him. He must have been the weakest Dhampir I've ever seen. Since it was the last period of the day I went to Anthony's office.

"Hello Rose," He smiled as I stood out my door. "I trust that your first day has been good so far."

"Yeah its been fine but I just wanted to know why Jason is so, small."

"Well it's a long story."

"Well I have time so go ahead." As he opened his mouth his computer made a ringng noise.

"Excuse me, I have an E-mail." He walked over and read a message. A series of emotions went across his face and I wanted to ask what it said.

"Rose, this E-mail involves you. Your friend Vasilisa Dragomir is visiting you next week."

"Really! That's great!."

"Yes I suppose. But your old mentor, Dimitri Belikov is coming."

**Yayy! I know how you guys missed the old gang so I decided to bring them in. :D By the way. Over 100 reviews! I love you guys. You're amazing! I give you all virtual hugs. *Hug* **


	10. Chapter 10: Seattle

**I'm so sorry for not uploading but better late then never right? :D Long chapter to make it up to you though. Thanks for all the Reviews. It means so much that you guys like my story. **

**Chapter 10: Seattle**

_**Previously: **__"Rose, this E-mail involves you. Your friend Vasilisa Dragomir is visiting you next week." _

_"Really! That's great!."_

_"Yes I suppose. But your old mentor, Dimitri Belikov is coming." _

"Have you heard?" Lissa yelled into the phone. I had to keep it away from ear so that I wouldn't since every time she yelled. She wasn't usually like this, but I guess she was excited to see me.

"Yeah I heard. I can't belive you're coming in like two weeks." I smiled widely into the phone.

"Yeah, the 24th."

"And you're bringing Dimitri."

"Yeah, he's technically in charge of me until he leaves with Tasha." Before this whole thing with Dimitri I wanted to tell her, and I eventually would have, but I know that now if I did I would just be embarrassed when ever she brought it up. It was weird to see all these happy couples knowing your own love life is going down the drain. "So he has to come everywhere I go."

"Oh, well listen Lissa I better go before all the food at dinner is gone. I'll call you later."

"Ok Rose. I'll see you in two weeks!" Then she hung up. I lied in bed for a little while. Contemplating in my head what to do about Dimitri. Should I just completely ignore him? Will he try to approach me? Should I tell Lissa what happened between us so that she might switch her guardian?

This wasn't working.

"Ok, I guess I'll just go eat." I tried to will myself out of bed but it wasn't working. I was too worried. All of a sudden I heard a knock on my door. I went to get it and found Stephanie there. I had forgotten all about my new friend. She stood there in a flowery skirt with a green v-neck that was probably designer. Her hair was crimped and looked amazing.

"Hey Rose. Are you on your way to the caf? I wanted to walk there together."

"Hey and sure lets go." I slipped my shoes and followed her out.

"Are you excited for the trip tomorrow?"

"What trip?"

"The trip to Seattle of course."

"Oh yeah, today's Friday. What time do we leave?"

"Six A.M. right when the sun goes down. Hey why don't you sleep over my room? It would be fun we could check out the store sales on my laptop, eat snacks and you could let me expirement on your hair."

"Sounds fun." It certainly sounded better than wallowing in my room.

"Okay! We should hurry, all the good food will be gone and I'm craving something salty and greasy."

"Join the club." I laughed.

After we'd eaten and went to my room to grab a few things before going to Stephanies, I told Steph about St. Vlads.

"So did you have a boy friend?" She asked sitting on her bed.

"Yes, no. I don't know. It's complicated.""

"How complicated?"

"Well, this guy is kind of unavailable."

"Is he taken?"

"No, just unavailable."

"Oh. Same here, but the guy I like is taken." She sighed.

"Really, who?"

"A friend. I don't think you know him."

"Ok. So exactly what did you want to do to my hair?"

"I wanted to curl it, I saw a hairstyle in a magazine one time but when I tried it on my hair it came out bad. I need thick hair like yours." She reached out to touch it and I let her.

"I wish I had hair like yours." She whispered longily.

"No you don't. It gets annoying most of the time."

"I doubt it." She bit her lip. "So what's your favorite store Rose? Are you girly or edgy?"

"A little bit of both. My styles pretty simple though."

"Oh, don't worry we can fix that." I laughed, she made it sound like a condition or something.

"We'll see. I'm not really that crazy with money. Mostly because I don't have tons of it. My mom sends me money once a month for some small expenses."

"That's okay. It's on me, It helps to be part of the royal family." She held up a black credit card.

"Thanks." I yawned. "Where do I sleep?"

After Steph gave me a very comfortable spot on her queen sized bed I passed out. When I woke up it was late morning for Moroi. Stephanie was still asleep and I tried not to wake her as I used her bathroom to freshen up.

"What time is it?" Mumbled Steph as she lifted her head."

"Five, we have an hour to get ready. I'm going to go change in my room and I'll meet up with you at breakfast."

"Wait! When can I play with your hair?" She jumped up and I saw that she had left her hair in curlers.

"Not today. It'll take too long." I picked up a bag I brought that had a stake, since the attack I had been very cautious, and a couple of other toiletries. "I'll see you later."

"Okay." She pouted and I smiled. Steph was so, for the lack of a better word, cute. I walked down the hall to my room and noticed something weird. My door was open, not all the way it looked as if someone had swung it but not hard enough. I got a flashback to when I went with Dimitri to get my Qualifier. I remembered all those dead bodies and shivered.

I took the stake out and crept in as quietly as possible. I looked around my bare room. Nothing looked touched or messed up. I saw into the bathroom easily since it was swung open. Nothing.

I know I closed the door last night, so that meant someone came in here while I was over Stephs. I winced when I heard a branch scrap against my window. I looked outside and hadn't noticed it was raining. Really bad too.

I put my stake away and went through my closet for something warm. I came up with a pair of sneakers with jeans and a sweater. I brushed my hair into long waves. Leaving it down but made sure to bring a scrunchie to tie it up if I need too later on.

I went to the banquet hall and got myself a big breakfast of bacon, pancakes and waffles. I found a seat next to Nate, who was drowning his waffles in syrup.

"Rose! Nice to see a celebrity like you eat with me. I'm not worthy."

"Celebrity?" I scoffed at his sarcasm.

"Hell yeah, your the number one hot topic in Madisons Academy."

"Seriously? I don't know whether to be flattered or cautious. Is there any gossip yet?"

"Well I've heard that you took on an army of Strigoi by yourself and you did it with half your bones broken. Also that you're the mother of twins and that the father is Adrian Ivashkov, Mr. Playboy himself. But I think my favorite piece of gossip is that you were kicked out of St. Vladimirs academy for killing your mentor." He paused and smirked. "Gee Rose, didn't know you had so much going on."

"It could be worse." I said this mostly to myself.

"I guess. By the way who's going to be your charge?"

"My what?"

"You know for the trip." He took in my confused expression and elaborated. "They aren't just letting us go to Seattle because they like us Rose. It's practice for the field experience. We get to pick our own Moroi to guard."

"I'm hanging out with Stephanie for most of the trip. That count?"

"As long as she knows."

"Oh so then I guess Stephanie is my charge then." I took a bite of my bacon.

"Stephanie Ivashkov is _not _your charge." I turned around and saw my most favorite person in the world... Cathy.

"Why did she tell you otherwise?" I was tired of seeing her everywhere. She was getting almost as annoying as Mia when I first got to St. Vladimirs.

"No, but we've been together all year. You can't have her." She grinned.

"Let's wait for her to come down and tell us." Right on cue, Steph entered the room, she saw me and smiled but the smile lessened when she saw who I was talking to. "Here she is."

"Hey Rose, hey Cathy. Fancy meeting you here."

"Stephanie, who is your guardian? Me or Rose?" Cathy said my name as if it was something of disgust.

"I'm s-sorry Cathy. But I asked Rose to hang out with me today. If you want you can guard me next time."

"Are you serious? Rose came in 3 days ago and we've been friends for years and you pick _her_? Stephanie Ivashkov, I am going to ruin you so bad not even your money will save you!" Steph looked as if she was going to cry so I butted in.

"Can you stop acting like such a bitch? She picked me over you get over it and get the hell out of here. You act as if your the damn queen of Sheba but you are _nothing_." It was a little mean of me to say that but she had it coming.

"Don't even get into this you mutt. Didn't you sleep with all the guys in your school, _and_ let them suck your blood? At least I have some class while you're just a filthy blood whore. Go back to where you came from." We had the attention of the cafeteria and I debated whether or not to sock Cathy, but there were too many teachers and I didn't need another bad mark on my record.

"At least I don't intimidate innocent Moroi. Isn't that something a Strigoi would do? You aren't hiding anything are you? I mean everyone already knows about how your salon stylist hated your guts and gave you that bad perm. But is there anything else?" Turns out I was right about the horrible hairstyle and when I heard it in Moroi culture class I knew I had to save it for later. She lunged toward me looking for a fight. Why should I deny her?

I punched her in the jaw so hard I had to shake the pain off my knuckles. She winced and aimed a kick at my stomach but I twisted enough so that she got my hip instead. I tried to grab her but that was when the guardians started ripping us apart. I stopped struggling and let them take me and Cathy to the headmasters office.

"Hey Anthony." I waved at him as he looked at us sternly.

"Miss Hathaway, Miss Damora." He nodded at each of us. "What happened?"

"Well," I started happily, "We were having a spirited debate and I was winning so Cathy thought she would have a better chance of showing her point of view by involving brute force. Sad I know." I kept a straight face and Anthony rolled his eyes at me.

"Rose, Cathy, I should make you stay at the academy while the rest of us enjoy ourselves in Seattle, but I'm in a good mood so I will let you go and you will both be suspended from extra-curricular activities for a week. But, If I hear any more about 'spirited debates' you will both be refrained from going to any trips in the future. Am I understood?"

Cathy and I both nodded and left our separate ways. We didn't look at each other again.

"I can't belive he's letting you guys still come to Seattle. I thought for sure he'd make you stay." Steph said as we got onto the coach bus, the ones with the comfortable seats, cup holders, mini TVs and a bathroom in the back. It was neat. I was happy to see that she had recovered from the incident.

"Yeah me too," I remembered Jason and thought about asking Steph if she knew why he was so scrawny. "Hey Steph do you know a sophomore named Jason Rayson?"

"Yeah, poor kid. Did you hear what happened to him?"

"No, what?"

"Well he had some type of cancer in his stomach so he was in the hospital for like a year and lost all the muscle he had, he used to be the top of his class or whatever. But now he's better and he's working on building up his muscle. Its going to be hard because the cancer screwed up his metabolism but It won't be impossible."

"So thats why he's so desperate to build up." I mumbled to myself.

"Rose! Try this on!" Steph shoved a jumper into my arms and pushed me into a dressing room. For such a small person, she was pretty strong. We were at a store in the beautiful city of Seattle. It was a lot prettier than I expected it to be.

"How does it look?" Cathy asked eagerly.

I looked at myself through the mirror. The jumper looked adorable on me. It went all the way the the top of my chest until my mid thigh and was tight. It was a little too promiscuous for school but would do great for parties.

"It looks amazing."

"Let me see!" She stormed into the room. "It looks incredible! We are going to get it."

"Thanks."

"No problem. It's the least I can do for my savior."

"I guess. Hey, why do you need novices anyway? Aren't the guardians technically protecting you? Because I haven't seen any."

"You wouldn't see any guardians around here Rose, Didn't anyone fill you in?"

"Apparently not."

"Well the Guardians are acting as Strigoi and they'll attack sometimes." On the word 'attack' I went into Guardian mode. There were two entrances and a lot of people.

"Would they attack in front of humans?"

"Yup; humans mostly think the guardians are just muggers or something." She barely able to finish her sentence before a bald guardian attacked me.

"Shit!" I yelled as I pushed Steph behind me and turned to face my opposer.

**Did you love it? Did you like it? I would love to hear what you do like and what you don't like. **

**Review please. :)**


	11. Chapter 11: Dates

**I love writing battle scenes, they're the best. Does anyone want to be a beta? Leave me a Private Message if you're interested and I'll look into your stories to see how the grammar looks like. I need someone who will send it to me as soon as I send it to them. I'll give you a two months as a practice run. **

_**Previously: **__"I guess. Hey, why do you need novices anyway? Aren't the guardians technically protecting you? Because I haven't seen any."_

_"You wouldn't see any guardians around here Rose, Didn't anyone fill you in?"_

_"Apparently not."_

_"Well the Guardians are acting as Strigoi and they'll attack sometimes." On the word 'attack' I went into Guardian mode. There were two entrances and a lot of people._

_"Would they attack in front of humans?"_

_"Yup; humans mostly think the guardians are just muggers or something." She barely able to finish her sentence before a bald guardian attacked me._

_"Shit!" I yelled as I pushed Steph behind me and turned to face my opposer._

**Chapter 11: Dates**

"Stay behind me!" I yelled at Steph as I tried to get my stake out of my bag. The guardian tried to grab my arm but I jumped out of the way. He grabbed my leg though but I had finally gotten to my bag. I quickley got it out of the side pocket and used it to scrap the guardians arm.

He quickley let go and rubbed his arm. I thrust my stake toward him but didn't hit his heart. I heard Stephanie scream and saw 2 other guardians running in the store. I rammed the guardian in front of me into the wall and quickely 'staked' him. He immediately backed off and ran out the store.

"Someone, stop him!" I heard a human yell. I'd forgotten about the bystanders. They were all standing around, looking at me in horror and fascination or running after the other guardian. I turned back to the other Guardians, one was tall and blonde and I hadn't seen her before and the other was a short and bulky guy. I rammed into the guy, catching him off guard and staking him.

I jumped toward the other guardian aiming a kick to her stomach, I hit her and she stumbled but regained her balance. She grabbed me and shoved me into a rack of clothes. It hurt.

The guardian ran toward me and punched the side of my head while I kicked her hip. We both fell and I hurt myself even more when I landed on a wood bench. I heard a punching sound and looked up to see Jacob Soles(the guy i fought in combat class) staking the guardian I was fighting.

Jacob was a hell of a lot hotter when he was staking someone. His eyes were completely focused on the kill and he had a stern look on his face. The guardians immediately ran out of the store and I heard a lot of bystanders who were watching cheering. Stephanie was the loudest one and ran over to me.

"Congrats on the staking Hathaway." Jacob grabbed one of my hands and helped me up. "It was amazing to see you in action like that. You were just... amazing."

"Thanks," I grinned at his praise, "But you helped me out on the last one."

"Only after you had her all bruised up."

"Well, i'm definately all bruised up. My body is going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow."

"Rose! You were fantastic." Stephanie had made it over to us. "You beat up almost three Guardians, while you're still a novice. You freaking great!"

"Thanks," I felt myself smile really big, "But when will I get my feedback on this whole 'staking' thing?"

"They'll give it to you at the Academy, I'm going to go pay for the stuff we got." She left me and Jake alone, winking at me when Jake wasn't looking. _What the hell?_

"So how you liking Seattle so far?" Jake said to me.

"It's neat, I like the uh, buildings." Jake laughed and I smiled.

"Yeah, those are great. The food here is great too."

"Damn, I haven't eaten since I got here 2 hours ago. Steph is very relentless when it comes to clothes." Just then a group of Moroi girls walked in. The humans in the store looked at their designer bags and tiny waists in envy.

"Well maybe we could go eat in a great Mexican place I know?" I didn't get to answer because I was interrupted.

"Oh my God, Its Rose! Hi Rose!" One of the blonds yelled, I met her in one of my classes a couple of days ago, Alisa was her name. Her group of friends just stared at me and whispered to one another. I rolled my eyes.

"Hey guys," I waved back.

"What are you doing here alone? Where's Stephanie?" She obviously didn't notice Jake standing 2 feet away from me.

"Actually," I gestured towards Jake. "I'm not alone and Stephanie's paying."

"Oh, sorry. Hey Jake! Didn't see you and -Steph! Hey!" Stephanie was walking toward me with a big yellow plastic bag.

"Alisa, hey sweetie pie." They hugged and Alisa suggested they go shopping together.

"Oh, sure. As long as Rose is okay with it?" She looked at me hopefully. I wanted to hang out with Steph but I didn't feel like running into anymore stores with out any food in me. I thought back to Jakes offer. Technically If I accepted It would be considered a date. Was the food worth possibly leading him on? Of course it was.

"I was actually going to go eat some Mexican with Jake. Is that okay? I mean, won't you need a guardian?"

"No, Betty over here is novice, she'll take care of us. I'll text you later than. If it takes too long remember to be on the bus by 11." She turned back to Alisa and her group. "Come on, we got to go before all the good stores close."

"Well," I said after they left, "You can go ahead and show me the way."

"Right, come on." He grabbed my hand and I jerked back. He blinked.

"Sorry, I was just startled."

"How can a badass guardian like you be scared of physical affection?"

"It's a lot easier than it sounds. You just got to go through what I've been through."

"Like what? Serial killer boyfriend? Abducted by aliens?"

"I wouldn't joke." I smirked "Your a hell of a lot closer than you think you are."

"Right. Well it's this way." He starting walking toward one of the exits and I grabbed _his _hand and pulled him outside. It was dark outside and It looked gorgeous. Their were lights everywhere and the streets were filled with people in fancy looking clothes. Jake saw me just standing there and laughed.

"What's wrong? You star struck Hathaway?" I felt shivers go up my spine. That sounded like something Mason would say. It hurt, I know I should already be over it. But Mason's death was the most emotional thing I'd ever been through. I hated being tied down by it. But not even Mason's ghost was good enough to help me get over it. It was a weakness I had to overcome.

"No," I gasped, not even realizing I held my breath.

"Okay, lets go." Jake dragged me toward a restaurant on one of the busy streets. We sat down and Jake ordered us tacos and we talked. It was awkward at first but we played twenty questions and It helped. He told me about his family, he had two sisters and his mom was a guardian. Then he told me about an old dog he'd had.

Then the tacos came and he paid the guy at the counter and brought one to me. It was so spicy I choked as I swallowed my first bite. Jake made fun of me while inhaling one of his tacos.

"How the hell do you do that?" I asked him while he swallowed down his third one without drinking anything.

"I'm immune, my mom's a big spice freak."

"No fair, I've never even tasted my moms cooking." I tried another bite and drank half my bottle of soda. After I stubbornly finished eating the rest of my plate, he ordered a really juicy cake with fruit in the middle. It was possibly the best thing I've ever eaten. Why couldn't I be half Mexican instead of Scottish? All Scottish people do is drink on St. Patrick's day and look for the Loch Ness monster.

"What time is it?" I asked him after laughing at one of his stories.

"10:40, We should probably get going or we'll miss our bus."

"Already? We've seriously been here almost two hours?" I stood up putting my sweater on. "Let's go."

We got to the bus just in time. There was a line entering the bus and Jake turned me. He looked a little nervous and took a step closer.

"Well I better do this before I get cold feet." He told me. I looked at him suspicously.

"Do what?" Then Jake leaned in and kissed me. I was shocked and couldn't move.

"Why, why did you do that?" I said after he pulled away. I looked around making sure no one saw and I'm glad to say no one noticed.

"Well, when I like someone, I tend to do that type of thing." He smiled at me and got on the bus. Not letting me get a word out. I immediately followed him and worked my way to my seat next to Steph. Jake sat 2 seats behing me and I turned around and met his eye. "We need to talk." I mouthed

"Later." He said back and I turned to Steph.

"Why were you kissing Jake?" Was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

"Shit, you noticed and the question is why did Jake kiss me?"

"Because he likes you!" She yelled out and I shushed her. At least the bus was really loud.

"Shut up, someone will hear you. He can't like me. I'm taken." I immediately regretted saying that because of two reasons. One, I had forgotten about Dimitri and I's... breakup and Two, Stephanie shrieked.

"I told you to be _quiet_. I'll tell you everything on your way home."

"Fine, but you will give me every detail." At the moment, Steph wasn't my favorite person in the world. The entire way home, Steph told me about the stuff she bought for herself and for me.

"You didn't have to buy me anything."

"Yeah but it was so much fun shopping for you. Your skin tone is so much more different from mine and It was fun experimenting with things that I've always wanted to work with but never had the chance."

I was tired when we finally got to the academy. I walked up the three flights of stairs and into my room. I noticed the door was not closed all the way. I got my stake and quietly crept in. It was dark so I turned on the light and became instantly pale. There was a man in my room. His hair was now short, his muscles were bigger and he had a smirk on his face.

"Hello _Roza_." Dimitri was here.

**How was THAT for a cliffhanger? I love writing cliffy's. You may have already noticed though. ;D **

**A.N. Again, if you are interested in maybe becoming a beta, PM me. **

**P.S. Reviews get Previews. :)**


	12. Chapter 12: Old Friends

_**Previously: **__I was tired when we finally got to the academy. I walked up the three flights of stairs and into my room. I noticed the door was not closed all the way. I got my stake and quietly crept in. It was dark so I turned on the light and became instantly pale. There was a man in my room. His hair was now short, his muscles were bigger and he had a smirk on his face._

_"Hello Roza." Dimitri was here._

**Chapter 12: Old Friends **

"What, what are you doing here you jerk?" It wasn't one of my best insults but I was surprised. Dimitri was lying on my bed, hair cut almost to a buzz and he had a ring on his finger. It was an ordinary band of silver. I stared at i and Dimitri caught me staring.

"It's not what you think it is, Roza." He laughed at me and I got angrier

"Why are you here? Where's Lissa, Did she come?"

"I'm here to check up on you Roza, Alberta wanted me to see how you were doing. I came in last night."

"So were you the one who snuck into my room last night?" I said hostily.

"Someone was in your room?"

"I'll take that as a no." I gestured toward the door. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"Aww Roza, but we were getting along." He mockingly told me.

"Get the hell out of my room or I'm calling a headmaster to tell him I'm being harrassed. And, don't call me Roza."

"Your threats would only scare me if I thought you were serious Roza." He stood up and took a couple of steps closer. "I can do whatever I want." He whispered in my ear. I tried to resist the urge to shiver but failed.

I felt him smile and he stared deeply into my eyes. I thought about moving away but I couldn't, I loved him too much. Saying it to myself, It didn't hurt yet. But I know it would hurt when he left and I was alone. He leaned in and I didn't breathe. Dimitri brushed his lips against mine and he turned, took a step around me and left.

I felt a sob weld up in my throat, but I refused to let it out. I splashed water on my face and left my room. I didn't know where I was going but I wasn't going to wallow in my room and cry. I ran to the gym, avoiding everyone I could.

I saw Jake in one of the halls and he waved me over but I shoke my head and ran. He tried to follow but I ran faster than I ever had before and left him behind.

When I got to the gym, I didn't bother changing and immediately starting punching the bag, then I ran laps and lifted wieghts. Finally I collapsed in exhaustion. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until I heard someone shaking me.

"Rose!" A deep voice yelled in my ear. I tackled the guy, who turned out to be Anthony. I was lying right on top of him and I blushed and stood up.

"Sorry, you uh, startled me." I brushed hair away from my face and helped him up.

"It's okay, I'm just glad you're alright. I saw you lying here and I didn't know what to think."

"Oh, I was tired so I fell asleep." If only It were as simple is that. "Why didn't you tell me that Dimitri came last night?"

"I guess I just forgot when I saw you and Catherine this morning. Your situation kind of pushed it to the back of my mind."

"Sorry about that." I grimaced.

"No one was hurt to badly so it wasn't much of a problem." A tear slipped out of my eye. Shit.

"Rose, are you okay?" Anthony looked like he was going to freak out. I would have laughed if I wasn't so sad.

"Yeah," I said weakly, looking into his gorgeous eyes. "fine."

"I heard that you did great in Seattle."

"Oh that was nothing. " We were interrupted by the door opening.

"Rose?" It was Dimitri again. "I wanted us to practice for a little bit."

"No thanks." I scoffed and walked toward the opposite doors and attempted to leave but all of a sudden Dimitri was there. He grabbed my arm roughly.

"You're coming."

"Leave me alone, you stupid son of a bitch!" I tried to get out of his grip but he had me in his iron grip. I hated that he was stronger than me. I'd beaten him only a handful of times before and even that didn't give me an edge. I struggled some more but Dimitri's attention wasn't on me anymore.

I looked around him to see what he was staring at. Anthony, of all people, had a strong hand wrapped around Dimitri's arm. I'd never noticed his big hands, they went all around Dimitri's biceps. I was impressed.

"Something you want to add Headmaster?" Dimitri's voice was like ice.

"Yes, Rose was actually going to my office." Anthony's face was hard. "We have some things to discuss." I saw them size each other up. You could cut the testosterone in the air with a knife.

"Fine," Dimitri gave in and let go of my arm. He took a few steps away and he looked at Anthony and I with a startled look on his face. I saw his eyes furrow together and then he smirked.

"Headmaster, you have absolutely no idea what you are getting yourself into. Take my advice and let go of her before it's too late." He laughed, cold and mean, and left. I felt myself go red.

"Well," Anthony looked as startled as Dimitri did. "If you don't mind, I better be getting to my office. Go to your dorm and relax Rose. It'll do you good."

"Wait, I thought we were going to converse some things."

"Rose, that was just to get you away from your cut-throat mentor. You're free to go." He turned to go, not looking at me.

"Wait!" I yelled, and waited until he looked me in the eye. "Thank you, for that and everything else."

"It's no problem," His face softened. "I'll be in my office if you need anything."

I turned and walked, wondering about Dimitri's comment, I saw Jake in one of the halls and waved. He came toward me and before I could say anything he pecked me on the lips. Everyone around us stared.

"Jake!" I half-whispered.

"Come on Rose." He had a satisfied smile on his face and it looked nice on him. I let him lead me toward the dining hall. He spoke to one of the servers and the server gave him what looked like a picnic basket.

"Who is this?" The server asked Jake. The server looked 20ish and he was a male moroi.

"Vince, this is Rose. Rose, this is Vince. My best friend."

"It's great to meet you." I said, smiling at him.

"Ditto." Vince looked me up and down.

"My eyes are up here, asshole." I rolled my eyes. Vince chuckled.

"I like her Jake." Jake smiled and led me away.

"I'll see you later."

"Why are most guys suck assholes?" I muttered, Jake ignored me and pulled me outside. He looked around and quickely moved around the buildings. I trusted him and followed quietly. After we ran into the patch of woods surrounding the school and hopped over a fence, we finally reached an open patch of woods. It was filled with lush green grass and a few logs that could serve as chairs.

"Do you like it?" Jake stared at my face.

"I love it. It's so pretty." I smiled widely, taking in the different scents.

"I found this place in the third grade with my older sister. Clara was her name, she was a senior at the time and my best friend."

"Oh, is she a guardian now?"

"She was," Jake nodded sadly "She died two years ago."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, I'm kind of over it. Let's find a nice place to sit down and eat." Jake went over to one of the logs and sat down.

**I know, I know. Not much of an ending but it's an update. It took me a long time to write, but its not my fault. School is ending and you know what that means. Finals, Regents, Studying and exercising(for the summer, I want to be able to wear a bikini and not feel self concious :D)**

**Please review. It helps me soo much.**


	13. Chapter 13: Getting To Know You

**Thanks so much for the reviews. I love you guys with the heart of my bottom. **

_**Previously: **__"I found this place in the third grade with my older sister. Clara was her name, she was a senior at the time and my best friend."_

_"Oh, is she a guardian now?"_

_"She was," Jake nodded sadly "She died two years ago."_

_"I'm so sorry."_

_"It's okay, I'm kind of over it. Let's find a nice place to sit down and eat." Jake went over to one of the logs and sat down. _

**Chapter 13: Getting to know you**

We stayed in our picnic area for three hours. Most of the time we talked, about our past, and we joked around. I can honestly say I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

"So where are you from?" I asked while we were talking.

"New York."

"Never tailed you as a city boy."

"Rose, only about 20% of New Yorkers actually lives in the city. I'm from Long Island."

"Isn't Manhattan an island?" I asked stupidly since I'd actually never heard of Long Island. Later on he told me about his family, including his dead sister.

"You were super close huh?" I asked while he told me about a time where Clara got him out of a detention by sweet talking an old teacher he'd had.

"You could say that." He smirked at me but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. I'd always wanted a sister, I was jealous whenever I saw two siblings together, laughing and telling each other secrets. I had Lissa though. She was my soul sister and I was hers. Thinking of Lissa made me homesick; I missed her so much and couldn't wait for her to visit me.

After a while, we decided it was time to leave. But neither of us actually wanted too. I liked being in my own world, away from Dimitri and Cathy and everything else that, in one way or another, had hurt me. I'm pretty sure Jake didn't want to leave because he was with me.

Right when I was going to get up Jake opened his mouth. "Rose, do you, do you want to be with me?"

"I uh, I don't know Jake. I don't think I can be with anyone right now. I have too much on my plate and I wouldn't want to add another thing." I was hoping It wouldn't come down to this. I had a feeling he would ask me something like this but I wasn't sure.

"I understand." He looks away from me and I feel my face fall with regret. I didn't want to hurt him, at all. I grab his face and peck him on the lips. It probably wasn't very smart, but I truly did not want his to get hurt. Jake smiles widely and gets up. We grab our things and leave, not saying a word. There was silence but it was comfortable silence.

All of a sudden I feel nauseous, I drop my bag and I have my stake out in a second. I survey the area; I see a shadow behind one of the trees. Jake noticed my stake and quickly got into battle mode. I was going to ask him where his stake was but then I remembered that I was probably the only novice in the school with a stake.

"What's wrong?" He asks after a moment. I don't answer and walk toward the shadow, not making any noise. I take another step and the shadow moves and disappears. I look around again, the nausea leaves and I turn back to Jake.

"There was something, most likely a strigoi, behind the trees, but it's gone now." I tell him, he nods and picks up the bag I dropped.

"Let's go." We walk cautiously through the trees and when we make it over the fence, I feel myself calm down.

"We should probably tell the guardians about this?" Jake says.

"Wouldn't we get in trouble for sneaking off property? Its fine, we're safe in here. The wards are up and they can't get us." I bit my lip when I remembered that that was exactly what everyone had been thinking at St. Vladimir's. We walk past one of the Moroi dorms and all of a sudden a bunch of mud fell on us. I looked up and saw a bucket hanging off the roof. I look around and saw nobody but I had a good idea who dropped the mud on us.

Suddenly I get a nauseous feeling again, but this time it wasn't the Strigoi. This mud smelled really bad and kind of made me feel like it wasn't mud. Jake wasn't hit nearly as bad as I was, he mostly got hit on his shoulder.

Jake took one look at me and then he looked down at himself and then he started laughing. I glared at him and he tried to calm down.

"I'm sorry." He says, biting his lip to prevent him from laughing even more.

"Whatever. I just can't believe I have to walk all the way to my dorm like this."

"Come to mine then. It's around the corner and we could probably get in without anyone noticing."

"Fine, let's just go and hurry. I'm going to murder Cathy when we're done." He doesn't acknowledge my comment and leads me to a dorm that was, thank god, empty. We go into his room and he lets me use his shower first. It isn't till when I turn off the water when I realize that I don't have any clothes. I grab a towel he has on the rack next to me and wrap it around me.

"Jake!" I yell and open the door just a crack. I notice that Jake had a friend in the room. Nate.

"Hey Rose." He waves at me with a wolfish smile on his face.

"Jake, get him out of here." I sent Jake a glare.

"I'll give you the essay later Nate. I'm in the middle of something." Jake kicked a laughing Nate out of the room, but before the door closed I saw Nate smirk and blow me a kiss.

"Why would you let him in while I'm showering? Nate doesn't strike me as a guy who keeps secrets." I want to yell at him but I didn't want to risk Nate overhearing.

"Sorry, he just walked in without knocking. I was kicking him out when you first called my name. Why were you calling my name?"

"I need clothes and mine smell really bad."

"Do you want to borrow some of mine? I don't think I have a shirt your size, though." I looked him over; any clothes he would let me borrow would be too big for me.

"Can't you run to my room or something?" I was desperate.

"No, it's past curfew. Nate only got here because he lives right next door. So I guess you are stuck here for tonight." Jake didn't even seem worried about it.

"Won't someone notice I'm not in my room?"

"No. All the guardians care about is keeping everyone out of the halls. They don't check the rooms at night." These people definitely have it easy.

"Fine, grab me some clothes than. I'll worry about the rest tomorrow." Jake looked through some drawers and came up with a T-shirt and a pair of boxers.

"That's all you have for me?" I wrinkled my nose.

"It's the only things that I own that will fit you."

"Are you sure you don't just want to see me half naked?" Jake just smiled at me, so I just took the clothes and closed the door. I considered putting my dirty bra on underneath but voted against it and just threw on the shirt and boxers. I tied my hair up and walked out of the room. Jake had thrown a few blankets on the floor, which I assumed was where I was sleeping so I sat down on the makeshift bed.

"No Rose, you're sleeping on the bed. I'll take the floor."

"It's okay, I'm a big girl. I'm the guest I'll sleep on the floor." I sent him a toothy smile.

"Well, if we're going to fight about it why don't we share the bed?"

"Try again." I scoffed.

"Just take the bed, Rose." I shrugged and got into the bed.

"G'night" Jake whispers and gets comfortable.

"We're sleeping? Are you sure you don't want to tell each other ghost stories or secrets?" I laugh.

"I'll tell you a secret if you tell me one Rose."

"Okay, you first" I had no idea what to tell him.

"No, I think you should start."

"Fine, somehow I don't think Cathy likes me very much." I joke.

"Really? Could have sworn you guys were braiding each others hair and gossiping about cute boys last time I checked." I just grinned at him.

"Your turn"

"Okay," I saw him grow a little sad, or maybe it was nervous. "I don't want to be a guardian."

"What?" I yelled, sitting straight up. "But you're one of the best novices around here."

"Yeah, but I only train because that's what my sister would have wanted. I don't want that responsibility on me. I can't imagine having someone's life in my hands. I'm only eighteen, there are eighteen year olds who's only worry is whether or not they get in the right college or where the next party is. It doesn't seem fair to me that we're worrying about fighting and killing to protect vampires."

"Someone told me a long time ago that life works like that. It is hard to admit but it's our life." I sighed; I had absolutely no idea what to say to Jake. I don't think I've ever met a dhampir (with one exception) thinking like this. Mostly, you meet novices who can't wait to get out there.

"Well it shouldn't be. I don't think we should be guarding someone's life this early in our own lives. Isn't the world bad enough already with all its faults, it doesn't need more gun-happy people in it. Especially since many of those people don't even know what the outside world is actually like." I realized that Jake had been thinking about this for a while now.

"I know." I shut my eyes tight and felt my arm go automatically toward the tattoos on my neck. "Believe me, I know."

"Oh yeah, you have killed before haven't you?"

"Yeah, sometimes I wish I hadn't. That, what happened to me, had never happened to me. It really sucks." I felt my breathe leave me.

"You have things you want to hid don't you Rose? You have demons."

"You could say that." I turn, lying with my back to him. "It's late we should sleep."

"Okay, good night." I hear him yawn and become silent.

All I can think about was his last comment. _You have things you want to hid don't you Rose? You have demons. _Don't we all?

**Please review. I want to hit 200. I**** Hope you liked it. :)**


	14. Chapter 14: Mistakes

_**Previously: **__"You could say that." I turn, lying with my back to him. "It's late we should sleep."_

"_Okay, good night." I hear him yawn and become silent._

_All I can think about was his last comment. You have things you want to hid don't you Rose? You have demons. Don't we all?_

**Chapter 14: Mistakes**

I woke up to see Jake dressed up in a fitted pair of dress pants and a light blue button down shirt. I tried to muss with my hair before he noticed but gave up after realizing it was too much of a mess.

"Why are you all dolled up today?" I grumbled at him, rubbing my eyes.

"I'm hardly 'dolled up' Rose, but I'm on my way to church."

"Church?"

"Yes church, it's generally what people who want to save their souls do every Sunday." He winked at me. "Not that you would know anything about that."

"Hey! I'm a nice person and although church may not be my idea of a good time it doesn't mean I don't want my soul to be not saved." I babbled.

"So then, are you coming with me?"

"Actually, I don't think I can't. I 'm not really dressed." I lifted the blanket off me to show my bare legs. "I doubt the Father would be very happy with me entering like this. No one would be able to focus with these bad boys around."

"Definitely wouldn't want Father to get a heart attack." Jake said leering at my legs. I blushed and recovered them.

"So, can you bring me clothes before church?"

"Can't, I'm already late. I'll bring it to you after church, I should be back in an hour."

"Fine. Can you bring me food then?" I smiled widely "Preferably bacon, eggs, sausages and pancakes. Oh and three chocolate donuts if you don't mind."

"You're cutting back aren't you?" He teased and I threw a pillow at him. Which he deflected of course.

"Just go and bring me jeans and a shirt. I'm starting to think that you like keeping me trapped in here." He smiled widely and grabbed his phone.

"Bye Rose." He left. I only had enough time to change the channel on the TV before the door opened it again. Jake had probably forgot something.

"Hi Jake." I said without looking.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, what are you doing in Mr. Soles bedroom?" Anthony yelled at me. I jumped up, shit.

"I was, well, you see, I was walking toward the dorms when this bucket of mud fell on me and-" I heard a deep chuckle come behind Anthony and turned around him to see who it was. Great.

"You never change, Rose." Dimitri chuckled again. _Seriously?_ I asked God _wasn't it bad enough that Anthony found me here? Did you have to make Dimitri find me too? _

"Actually," I glared. "I've grown a lot the past year. If you remember, I came from not being able to throw a proper punch to handing your ass to you plenty of times."

"Oh, I remember plenty. I also seem to remember an incident like this involving a certain Jesse Zeklos." I wanted to slap the smirk off his face.

"That was almost a year ago-" Anthony had interrupted me.

"Rose, stop talking!" I shut up only because I couldn't believe what he'd just said to me. I felt a long string of profanities well up. Anthony turned to Dimitri, "Guardian Belikov, we'll continue this conversation later."

"Yes sir." Dimitri winked at me and left.

"Anthony…"

"Rose, I don't have time for this, I want you and Jake in my office at 3. Don't be late." And he left. I sat on my bed dejectedly. The door opened and I quickly stood up. I was surprised to see Dimitri standing there. He had a hungry look in his eyes.

"What? What are you doing here?" Dimitri didn't say anything and took three long strides so that he was a breathe away from me. I felt shivers go up my spine and my traitorous heart began beating faster.

"Dimitri," I tried to stop my voice from shaking. "Why are you-"

"Roza," He said huskily. "You have no idea what you're doing to me." I tried to speak again but then he put his mouth to mine and my mind went blank. He pulled me down on the bed so that he was on top and left me completely breathless. I tugged on his shirt and he pulled away enough to rip it off. I sighed, it was hard to explain how I felt.

Dimitri and I fit perfect together, then Dimitri then tugged on my shirt and then I remember the big shirt I was wearing. It made me remember what I was doing and who I was doing it with. I pulled back and he settled for kissing my neck.

"Dimitri, get off me." I tried to shove him off but his arms were like steel cages.

"You don't mean that." He murmured against my neck.

"Get off me." I released my arm and pushed against his neck. He made a weird gurgling sound and fell back.

"Roza?" He looked hurt. It surprised me the last week he'd been so cold and now here he was acting more like his old self. The past week had been hard and I almost didn't even know who he was anymore. It angered me that he thought it was perfectly alright to mess with my emotions.

"We can't do this. You're engaged remember?" I said scornfully. I threw him his shirt and turned away from him.

"But Rose, I love you. " I turned around quickly,

"What the hell is wrong with you? You've been acting like i'm some sort of annoying child the past week and now your seducing me? What drugs have you been doing? I can't take this, get out and leave me alone!" I was completely confused. Is he suffering through some personality disorder or something?

"Roza…"

"Rose!" I snapped. "Get out."

"Fine." He said icily and put his shirt on. "I forgot to tell you but we have a training practice tomorrow at 8 pm. Don't be late."

I sat on my bed, I was right back to where I started. I started wondering about Dimitri. This was very strange. Is someone using magic to make themselves look like Dimitri or something? Did it have something to do with Tasha? I don't know but it was weird.

I sat there wondering until I heard a knock on the door and Jake yelling out 'Rose'.

"Hey Jake" I mumble guiltily while opening the door. Jake had brought me plates of food wrapped in a bag and another bag with clothes. He handed me the clothes.

"Go change in the bathroom, I'll set out the food."

"Okay, thanks." I smiled halfheartedly and walked into the bathroom. I grabbed all the clothes and started putting on the panties(I knew Jake must have looked for them but I didn't push the issue) and then the jeans. I didn't notice until I had the jeans buckled that I had never even seen these jeans before. It was a pair of dark washed jeans that had some type of glitter on them. I looked at the shirt, it was a lace, strapless top that cinched in the waist. It was amazing, but it wasn't mine.

"Jake?" I yelled through the door. "Where did you get these clothes?"

"Your room, there was like 5 different outfits folded on your bed. Never knew you were that neat."

"I'm not, Stephanie must have left it there. She mentioned something about buying me clothes." I put on the shirt and looked at myself in the mirror. It was a gorgeous shirt that probably cost more than half my wardrobe put together. I brushed my hair with Jake's comb and it seemed to do the trick. I noticed that in the bag there were a pair of brown, strappy wedges.

They were way too high to be appropriate for anything I had planned today and they definitely wouldn't be useful in a fight. I wore them anyway. I could always go to my room and change.

"What do you think?" I asked walking out of the bathroom.

"I think that I definitely have to thank Stephanie for this." He grabbed my waist and to be nice and because I felt guilty, I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You know, this is actually a very comfortable position. I'm leaning on you for a reason, these shoes are killing me." I joke.

"So I guess you're going to have to lean on me the entire day huh?" I rolled my eyes at the goofy smile he had on his face and suddenly remembered Dimitri. I felt so guilty, here was a super sweet, cute and badass guy who liked me and I seemed to keep falling for Dimitri. It was Mason all over again.

"So why don't we eat?" I sniffed the air. "The food smells amazing."

"You sure do have an appetite. Don't think that I don't remember you stuffing all that food in your mouth yesterday." I punched his arm and sat on the couch he had. The dresser of his was made into a makeshift table and had a buffet full of food.

"How did you get all this?" I asked in wonder.

"Remember my friend who works in the kitchen?"

"The asshole?"

"That's him." He laughed.

"Remind me to thank him later." I grabbed a plate and started loading it up.

"Woah, its not going to get up and run away." I ignored his last comment.

"Oh, and Jake?" I said, remembering my encounter with Anthony.

"Yeah?"

"We have to go to Anthony's office today at 3."

"Anthony? Who's that?" I forgot that I'm the only one in the school who disrespects teachers.

"The headmaster, I mean."

"Why? I don't remember him telling me anything about a meeting."

"It was recently penciled in." I murmured with a straight face. "The headmaster kind of came in today while you were at church."

"What! That's not good." He grew pale. "Did you explain to him that we weren't doing anything?"

"I tried, but he just seemed too mad to listen."

"Damn, we'll try again at the meeting. He'll understand, won't he?" He seemed pretty anxious.

"Of course he will." I rubbed his arm.

* * *

There were two hours left and then I had to get Jake to come with me to Anthony's office. After eating, I decided to go to my room and call Lissa, It had been days since I've spoken to her.

"Rose!" Lissa yelled when she answered.

"Hey Liss, how are you?" She ignored my comment and went on.

"Why haven't you called me before? I miss you so much Rose."

"I've been busy hanging out with some, friends."

"A _boy _friend?" Damn, She must have noticed my hesitation.

"Kind of."

"Rose! Tell me, who is he?"

"Well," I smiled, her energy was contagious. "his name is Jake and he's one of the bad asses around here. Well, not as bad ass as me."

"Wow"

"So how's the academy? Are you a sparky ok?"

"Yeah, we're fine. He's coming with me to see you."

"That'll be fun. And speaking of the trip, did you know that Dimitri was here?"

"He is? No one told me, I haven't seen him for a few days but I didn't really think much of it."

"Yeah, is Tasha around?"

"I saw her yesterday. She's coming with me to see you though." If Tasha was at the Academy she couldn't have anything to do with Dimitri's strange moods.

"She is? To see Dimitri right?"

"Yeah, they're getting married soon."

"I know," I swallowed down the hurt and continued. "Has Tasha or anyone been acting strange or something?"

"What do you mean strange?"

"Can you keep a secret?" I went to lock my door and lowered my voice, I didn't want anyone to hear.

"Rose? What's wrong?"

"It's just that, Dimitri's been acting weird. It's like someone is trying to control him. He would act like someone I don't even know one minute, and act like my… mentor the next."

"I wish I could tell you that I've noticed something but I haven't. When I get there I'll check his aura or use compulsion. Who do you think is changing him?"

"I suspect it might be Tasha but since she's at St. Vladimirs, I don't know."

"Well, it still could be someone outside of where you are. Any type of user has the ability to infuse silver with magic. Is he wearing anything that looks silver?"

"Yeah, a silver ring." I thought back to the first time I saw Dimitri here and wondered if he had been wearing that ring just now. "It looked kind of like an engagement ring though."

"That could be it. We'll find out when I come this weekend."

"Ok, well I better go. I have a meeting with the headmaster later and I'm starved."

"What did you do this time?" Lissa laughed.

"You would freak if I told you."

**A lot of surprises are in store my friends. Thanks tons for the reviews, It makes me smile every time I read them. Tomorrow I will finish my last final and then I'm out for the summer so expect more updates a lot quicker. **


	15. Chapter 15: Fairness

**Sorry this has taken so long but for the past week I have been writing a very long summary of the end of the story. I have always had an idea of what I wanted but now it's official and boy, things are going to get crazy. :D**

**Again sorry, but I'm here now and I'm not giving up on this story.**

_**Previously: **__"Ok, well I better go. I have a meeting with the headmaster later and I'm starved."_

"_What did you do this time?" Lissa laughed. _

"_You would freak if I told you." _

**Chapter 15: Fairness**

"Do you think he'll give us detention or something?" Jake asked worriedly. I rolled my eyes and reassured Jake, again, that Anthony would understand our problem and let us go with a free pass. I had met up with Jake after cleaning up my room and I had found the piles of clothing that Jake had told me about. It hurt me but I knew I had to run and check out the clothes later or risk getting yelled at for being late to Anthony's office.

"What about if he calls our parents?" Jake asked. "My parents would probably kill me if they thought I did something stupid."

"So, the school's badass turns out to be afraid of a phone call to his mommy." I teased him, hoping he would stop whining. Jake punched my shoulder and I retaliated of course and Jake tried to kiss me. And what I mean by 'try' is that he leaned in but I ducked out of his way. He looked confused but I just looked away. I felt guilty, I wasn't over Dimitri and kissing him like that wasn't helping out my situation.

"We should keep going or else we'll be late." I led the way to the main office. The secretary sent us in when we announced that Headmaster Drozdov wanted to speak with us. Anthony's door was open and he was facing the window and was talking on his cell phone.

"Yes I heard about the attack." Anthony muttered into the phone. "How many guardians are we talking about? Did we lose any Moroi?... Yeah, I'll call Zeklos." I wanted to keep listening but Jake knocked on the wall. Alerting him of our presence.

"Headmaster Drozdov?" Anthony took one look at us and quickly yelled something unintellible into the phone and closed it.

"Rosemarie and Jacob. Nice of you to grace me with your presence." He said drolly.

"Was there another attack?" I ignored his sarcasm.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You said something about an attack on your phone. Was there another Strigoi attack?" Anthony stood up and closed the door and turned back to us.

"You can't say anything about what you heard to anyone. The royal court wants this kept secret."

"Fine. Just tell us what happened." I insisted. I really hoped it wasn't someone I knew.

"I can't. No one is supposed to know about this." Anthony sat back down. "So, tell me. Why was Rose in your room half dressed this morning Jacob?"

"We didn't break any rules, headmaster. Well we did but it was kind of an accident."

"An accident?" Anthony raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly." I cut in and told the entire story. Of course I left out the picnic. When I was done, Jake looked even more worried than before and Anthony's face was expessionless.

"Is that really what happened?" Anthony directed the question at Jake. I scoffed, I know it was hard to believe but doubting me was rude.

"Yes sir. One hundred percent correct." Jake fidgeted but looked at Anthony in the eye.

"All right," Anthony sighed. "If that's what happened, then that's what happened. Jake you get a warning, another warning and you'll be properly disciplined. Rose, you will get detention for a week." Anthony wrote something down.

"A week?" I yelled, "Why me?"

"You already had a warning." He saw the blank look on my face. "Don't you remember your... disagreement with Catherine?"

"Oh," Damn. "But I can't tomorrow, I have extra classes wih Dimitri." I didn't remember the exact time Dimitri and I were supposd to meet up but I really didn't want detention.

"Rose, I'll take care of Guardian Belikov."

"Fine." I glared at him. "Bye"

Jake excused himself quickley and followed me. "You okay?"

"Fine."

* * *

I waved by to Jake, telling him I had to go to my room and sudy for a test I had. I made it to my room and saw 4 piles that I hadn't noticed last time I was in my room. In each pile there was a pair of shoes and an outfit, Stephanie must have brought these over. I looked through the first pile and saw a comfortable pair of sneakers. They were all black and looked sturdy. The rest of the outfit was a pair of red spandex mini shorts and a tight black and red workout top. The second outfit was a pair of ballerina flats with a bow on top, a loose grey and white designed tank top with a lace back and a pair of black ripped stretchy shorts. The third outfit held a flowered romper with dark brown wedges and a bead necklace. The last one was the most impressive. It was a a short hot pink dress that had a layer of see-through material on top of the pink dress. It was tight at the bodice but swung out near my thigh. It came with a pair of nude colored heels and matching dangling earings. The outfits were amazing and I appreciated the fact that most of them wouldn't be to hard to fight with.

I try on the outfit with the ballet flats and I was looking myself over in the mirror when I heard a knock on the door.

"Hey Rose! Since you're parading around in the new outfits i'm assuming you like them?" I threw my arms around her, catching her by surprise.

"Thanks so much, Steph! I love them. They're exactly what the doctor ordered."

"No problem." She giggled as I swung her around. "It was fun, the pink dress is my favorite."

"It's gorgeous."

"I know." She winked at me and sat on the bed. "So, where were you last night?"

"I was in the headmasters office. We were talking about my future." I knew I had to lie, just because I liked Steph doesn't mean I trusted her.

"Rose, if I asked you something, would it stay between us?" I looked at her wierdly.

"Sure, if that's what you want." I had a feeling I asn't going to like this very much.

"Do you really want to be a guardian for the rest of your life?" My eyes must have been huge. What is with this school? Did everyone have problems with the system? I was used to being the only one.

"Yeah, I really want to dedicate my life to protecting my best friend." I hesitated.

"It just seems like a waste. Why are Moroi lives more important than Dhampir? What exactly do we do that makes us so special?" It took me a moment to answer.

"You continue my species. Dhampirs need Moroi to survive." Steph rolled her eyes, she'd probably heard this before.

"So while you guys are out defending us and giving up and risking your lives, we're having sex?" She shrugged. "Doesn't seem fair to me."

"No one ever said life was fair. Believe me when I say that whenever I get the chance, I'll fight for me and my race but now," I sighed. "I have to graduate for Lissa. I need to protect her and I will. Even if it means giving my life up, she would do the exact same thing for me."

"Thing is Rose, I don't think she would." She go up and headed for the door, she turned to me once, suddenly looking tired. "I'm glad you liked the outfits."

I nodded and she left, leaving me to my thoughts. I couldn't get her last comment out of my head. _Thing is Rose, I don't think she would._

Lissa would do anything for me, we're sisters, we've been through hell and back together. I couldn't wait for Lissa to get here, this place is making me go crazy.

* * *

The next day went slow. I got the message from Anthony saying that my meeting with Dimitri would be moved to lunch that day so as soon as I finished with my language arts class I made it back to the gym. But first I walked around the building and tied my shoes and anything else that could make me late. I really didn't want to talk to Dimitri after yesterday.

"You're late." Dimitri growled as I slowly wandered in.

"And? It's not like you can do anything to me comrade, you're not a teacher or my mentor anymore."

"You are wrong about that Rose. I can make this school very unpleasent for you."

"How exactly can you do that comrade?"

"I can't release my secrets here Roza. We have practice." He smiled evilly at me.

"I told you not to call me that anymore."

"And?" he mocked me. Anger tore threw me and I flew at him. Almost catching him off guard. He tried to strike out but I blocked it. I punched him in the gut and he doubled over. I tried to kick him but he grabbed my foot and twisted it. I fell over but got on my feet again. Crouching slightly, Dimitri mimicked my movements and we circled each over before he ran toward me. Grabbing me by the waist and pulling me down. He tried lying on top of me but I was squirming so I slipped out and sat on him. Bringing my knee into his gut so that he ran out of breath and he tested . I looked him in the eye.

"Don't call me Roza." All I got was two eyes glaring at me so I stood up, grabbed my duffle and left. I felt so happy, like i'd finally conquered a mountain, or in this case a badass Russian. I skipped to the dining hall and even got the last brownie before sitting down next to Jake.

"Hey." I said and he nodded at me and went back to reading a textbook laid out in front of him. "Watcha doing?"

"Reading."

"Reading what?" I knew I sounded annoyed but I don't like being ignored.

"Just something I found interesting." He closed the book in front of him, probably realizing my annoyance. "What's up?"

"Just finished my session with Dimitri." I shrugged.

"Dimitri?"

"You've probably heard of him, Dimitri Belikov? The badass from Russia? My old mentor?"

"Oh yeah, he-" Jake stopped abruptly and looked at the space behind me.

"What's wrong?" I turned and saw a Moroi with gold hair and was looking around.

"Lissa!" I yelled and tackled her.

**Done, sorry it's so short guys but I really wanted to update and this was where I planned on stopping. You guys, I have terrible luck. I could make a 12 page of list that stated everything that's gone wrong since I last updated but, oh well. Expect an update soon. And I mean it this time. :D **

**PS, The reviews have been amazing. :D I love you guys. **

**PSS, do yourself a favor and go to youtube and type in **_**Your Song by Elton John **_** You won't regret it.**


	16. Chapter 16: Changing Dimitri

**WHAT? Cindy uploaded twice in one month? Amazing. Haha, I hope you love this chapter. The words pretty much floated out of my mind and into my computer. Enjoy.**

_**Previously:**__ "You've probably heard of him, Dimitri Belikov? The badass from Russia? My old mentor." _

_"Oh yeah, he-" Jake stopped abruptly and looked at the space behind me._

_"What's wrong?" I turned and saw a Moroi with gold hair and was looking around._

_"Lissa!" I yelled and tackled her._

**Chapter 16: Changing Dimitri**

"Rose!" Lissa yelled when she hugged me back. We were swaying wierdly around the cafeteria causing a scene but I didn't care.

"When did you get in?"

"A few minutes ago, the first thing I did was come looking for you." I looked behind her and didn't see anyone.

"Did you come alone?" My eyebrows crinkled together.

"No, Adrian and Alberta came with me. Oh and Tasha."

"Adrian? What about Christian?"

"He couldn't come." Lissa sounded sad about it.

"Why? Did you guys get into a fight or something?" I asked, suddenly hating myself for not checking in on her. She could be depressed or something and I wouldn't even have noticed. I reached out to her and tried to get a feel of her emotions, no depression or sadness here, just excitement and a little bit of something else I couldn't grasp.

"No, he just had to stay to make up a few classes." She was telling the truth but that speck of uneasiness was still in her. I felt someone walk up behind me and keep walking until they were an inch behind me.

"Hey, Little Dhampir." I turned around punched Adrian on the arm once but gave him a hug for being an idiot. I was in a good mood now.

"Adrian, I never thought I'd say this but God, I missed you." I felt laughter coming from him and I stepped back and got a good look at him.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked him, his eyes were tired, his skin was pale and he looked sick.

"It's nothing, don't worry about me." I looked back at Lissa, her face didn't show anything and I think she was just as confused as I was about this. I looked back at Adrian and gave him a look that said "later", he nodded once.

"Rose?" I had forgotten about Jake, who was now standing close behind me, a little too close for comfort.

"Oh, sorry Jake, this is Lissa, my best friend, and thats Adrian, the drunk. Guys this is Jake, the only reason I wake up each morning." I winked at him and got a smile.

"But Little Dhampir, you promised that role to me."

"Sorry Adrian, I got a new favorite." I led Adrian, Lissa and Jake to my table but saw that my table was now filled. I saw Cathy, who was sitting in my seat, give me a dirty look and anger rose in me.

"Trouble in paradise?" I looked back at Adrian who kept looking from me to Cathy.

"It's nothing, lets go to my room." I turned my back on Cathy.

"Sorry Rose," Jake told me, "but I'm kind of suspended from the Girls dorm for a while."

"Since when?"

"Since the headmaster sent me a message this morning." I sighed. _Why is he suspended? What happened? _Lissa asked me through the bond. I shook my head.

"Ok then. I'll see you later than." I told Jake and he walked off.

After we got settled in my room, Adrian, Lissa and I got down to business.

"So where are you guys staying?" I asked them.

"We each got a room in the teachers wing." Lissa answered, looking around my room probably wondering if she can fit another bed in my cramped space.

"The teachers wing?" I shook my head is amused disgust. "Well I guess you're going to have to stay here."

"Awesome," Adrian became thoughtful. "I guess I'll take the bed. Well unless you want it, then maybe we can share."

"Or, maybe you should take the hall. I hear that it has the best view. Plus, the alcohol comes free of charge." I urged.

"But Rose," He gave me an innocent smile, "You deserve the hall most of all. Your generous and amourous self has to take the best spot. I couldn't possibly take it." I rolled my eyes and Lissa giggled.

"We'll figure this out later." I turned my attention to Adrians weary appearence. "Adrian, what's wrong? What aren't you telling us?"

"Rose, it's complicated. I've been getting into a lot of arguments lately."

"With who?" Lissa asked, I felt through the bond that Adrian had only recently acted this way. She figured that it was just too much stress at the academy and was the reason why she'd asked him in the first place.

"My beloved parents of course. They've been threatening to disinherit me."

"Haven't they been threatening you since the minute you graduated high school?"

"Not like this, my dads getting pretty old so he's been pestering me to follow in his steps. They have also confiscated my credit cards and my fake ID. But the ID isn't a problem, I have around seven."

"So what part of that story is leading to your current appearence?" I asked, not really getting it.

"Well, no money equals no booze which pretty much makes a zombie Adrian."

"Got it." I got up and lifted my mattress finding a bottle of vodka that I'd saved for a while. I held it up and Adrian looked at it like a starving man would look at a Bigmac. I threw it at him and he caught it deftly, opened it expertly using his teeth and took a big swig. You could literally see his skin grow more color and the bags fade from his eyes.

"Rose!" Lissa yelled amused. "How did you get that into this campus? They completely searched my bag on the way in."

"I have my ways, you'd be surprised what you can hide in a bag of tampons." I winked. "Hey Adrian, pass the bottle."

"No way Little Dhampir, without this bottle I could die! I need every single drop." He held it away.

"Adrian, it's _my _bottle. Hand it over."

"Sorry Rose, whoops I think I heard someone call me. I better go see who it is." He flew out the door, with me following.

"Adrian!" I looked out into the hallway and saw no one there. I sighed, closed the door and sat back down. "I'm going to kick his ass."

Lissa just laughed, "Well, can you blame him? He's desperate."

"Yeah well, now he's stuck in teachers wing because no way in hell is he sleeping here." Lissa just rolled her eyes.

"So, what's up with Dimitri?" I'd almost forgotten about my conversation with Lissa, she knew that I suspected that something wierd was happening.

"Like I told you over the phone, he's got like multiple personality disorder. He would change moods in moments notice. It's strange, what do you think it is?"

"Well, if you're right about the moodswings. It could be compulsion, it sounds like Dimitri's subconciously trying to fight the spell. You said he was wearing a silver ring right?"

"Yup, it was plain and kind of thin." Lissa looked through her bag and came up with a plastic bag of silver rings.

"Did it look like any of these?" I looked through them, some were plain, some were decorated, some wear too thick, some didn't even look silver. I combed through the rings and found one that was an exact match.

"This one," I nodded proudly. "It looks exactly like it."

"Alright, so what we'll do now is switch the rings and if Dimitri acts like the old Dimitri we'll know somethings wrong with the ring." Lissa started to put the rings away but I stopped her.

"Wait Lissa, maybe you should charm the ring."

"What, why?"

"Because what if Dimitri's being compulsed? Can't you somehow make the ring wearer resistant to compulsion?" Lissa looked at me for a moment, then she studied the ring. I felt spirit well up in her and then I felt her manipulate it into the ring. Lissa paled and weakly handed it over to me.

"Put it on, I'll try to compulse you and if you resist completely we'll know that it worked."

"Are you sure you want to try now? Maybe we should go to the feeders." I eyed her cautiously. I felt guilty for making her use her magic.

"After, I just want to make sure it works." I put it on.

"Rose," She looked me in the eye. "I want you to quack like a duck until I tell you to stop."

I glared at her and she laughed "Well at least we know that it worked. I didn't feel your compulsion at all."

"All right, so how you going to switch the rings?" Lissa asked me, standing up.

"I have a plan."

* * *

I dropped Lissa off at the feeders and went to my classes, when I went to my tutoring session I found Jason punching at a few bags lying around. Our relationship was rocky, I was worrying too much when I yelled at Anthony for giving me a male student. The kid hated me. He would barely speak to me throughout each lesson, he just grunted when I told him the plan for the day. At least he's bulked up some, not as close as what a regular novice is but he's getting there.

"You know" I interrupted him. "You should probably wear gloves, It's a real pain to have to deal with messed up knuckles."

"I know." He grunted

"Well then wheres your gloves?"

"Left them in my room." I rustled through my bag and took out a green pair of gloves.

"Take my lucky ones." I tossed them at him, he glanced at me once and put them on. "So today we are going on a fieldtrip."

"Where?" Jason momentarily paused.

"The woods, I got a surprise for you." I smiled, I had set up a few dummies in a patch of grass in the woods.

"Kay." He grabbed his duffle bag and followed me out. When we got there I took two stakes out of the bag and stood near one of the dummies. Jason eyed the stakes with wonder. I knew that the other sophmores hadn't started stakes but I figure that it wouldn't hurt to be ahead.

"So today 're working on stakes. As you know there are three ways to kill a Strigoi, one of these ways is staking. You already have the strength to push one of these babies into someones chest. But the hard part is hitting the heart."

* * *

"You need me to what?"

"I need you to distract Tasha for a few minutes." I told Adrian. I had found him in his room and told him that I'd forgive him if he did me a favor.

"What are you up to Rose?"

"Nothing, just distract Tasha for a few minutes while me and Lissa go talk to Dimitri."

"Aha! I knew this would have something to do with the Russian." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, your a damn Sherlock. Will you do this for me or not?"

"I'll do it. When do you need this distraction?"

"Now would be nice." I smiled at him. He cursed and took a drink.

"Fine. Go talk to Dimitri I'll take care of Tasha for as long as I can." I thanked him and left.

Now I had to find Dimitri and somehow get the ring off him. I had told Lissa that I had a plan but I had no idea what the hell I would do. I looked down at the ring in my hand and grimaced. Suddenly an idea came to my head, I ran for the Gym and hoped that Dimitri would be there.

"Hey Rose," Nate called to me when I entered the Gym. It was partially full with a few students and a few teachers here and there.

"Hey Nate." I skimmed the area and found Dimitri sparring with the head Guardian of the school. There was a group around them. I headed toward it just in time to see Dimitri pin down the other guardian. The audience clapped and I jumped on the mat. Dimitri raised his head to lock his eyes with mine.

"Up for another round comrade?"

"I am if you are." He smiled sneakily. He stood up and mimicked my stance.

"This will be fun." I made the first move and tackled him. He pushed against me and ended up on hs feet, we exchanged punches and kicks pretty evenly. Neither one of us getting the upper hand. I grabbed his hand and managed to rip the silver ring and throw it across the room. Dimitri didn't give the ring a glance and elbowed me in the gut. I doubled over but managed to hit him behind the knee, he pulled me down with him and we tumbled on the ground, trying to get control. Dimitri managed to pin me down but I kneed him. I pushed him over and got control. I held him by his wrists and managed to overcome him.

"Well, that's two for two. I guess I am getting better than you." I stood up and found the silver ring. I exchanged the rings and threw the faulty one to him. "I'll see you later."

I'm sad to say that I hadn't even seen if the ring switch would work because as soon as I woke up the next day one of the guardians was an inch away from breaking my door down.

"What?" I answered the door.

"The headmaster would like to speak to you for a minute."

"Now?" The guardian nodded once.

"Why?" The guardian shurugged. I sighed. "Alright, give me a minute to change."

"No time, the headmaster was very specific when he said he wanted you there as soon as possible."

"Well, no one will get hurt if I just ran a brush through my hair." I tried to wlk away but the guardian took hold of my arm and pulled.

"Woah! Hands off." I shoved at him but walked toward the office. Anthony, Tasha, Dimitri and Lissa was there. Anthony looked dissapointed, Tasha looked angry and Dimitri and Lissa looked confused.

"Rose, we have had a few complaints about you-" Tasha interrupted Anthony's speech.

"Get to the chase, Rose, why did you steal Dimitri's engagement ring?"

**Oops, caught in the act. :D Can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter. **

**Please Review. I love reading what you guys think of my story. **


	17. Chapter 17: Surprise! Your Life Sucks

**So I got a ton of questions from some people, I might explain this in this chapter but I'll give you a few answers. Dimitri was confused in the last part of the chapter because he couldn't think of a reason why Rose would switch the rings and Lissa is confused because she doesn't know why she's in Anthony's office. **

**Anyway, Here is chapter 17 enjoy! **

_**Previously: **__"Woah! Hands off." I shoved at him but walked toward the office. Anthony, Tasha, Dimitri and Lissa was there. Anthony looked disappointed, Tasha looked angry and Dimitri and Lissa looked confused._

_"Rose, we have had a few complaints about you-" Tasha interrupted Anthony's speech._

_"Get to the chase, Rose, why did you steal Dimitri's engagement ring?" _

**Chapter 17: Surprise! Your Life Sucks**

"Engaged?" Lissa said for me when she saw that I was too shocked to say anything. I stared at Dimitri, who didn't seem to know what to say but looked at my facial expression thoughtfully. It was weird how he looked at me, there wasn't a trace of snarkiness or malice on his face.

"Of course," Tasha came out of her rage for a moment and looked between me and Lissa. She turned toward Dimitri, "Didn't you tell them?"

"Didn't get the chance too." Dimitri shrugged, still looking at me. Tasha noticed but didn't acknowledge it.

"Anyway," Anthony changed the subject, "Rose why did you steal Guardian Belikov's ring?"

"I didn't steal it." I shook my head and feigned confusion. Lissa threw me a panicked look.

"Rose we know you stole the ring, where is it?"

"I didn't steal anything, he's wearing his stupid ass ring." I pointed at the silver ring that shined against Dimitri's skin.

"That's not the ring, that is some type of fake."

"It looks like silver to me, why don't you test the stupid ring before blaming everything on me."

"Rosemarie, that's not the real ring." Anthony held his hand out toward me and Dimitri slid the ring off and handed it over. "The real ring had an inscription inside it, this one does not."

He held the ring out toward me and, lo and behold, there was no inscription on the inside of the ring.

"Still doesn't mean it was me." I grimaced on the inside, I should have double checked the ring to make sure that nothing was different.

"Rose, the only memory that Dimitri has of taking off the ring was during training with you. So again I ask, why did you take the ring?"

"Well, trust me when I say that Dimitri's memory isn't as reliable as you think." I said and then mentally slapped myself, why do I have such a loud mouth?

"What is that supposed to mean?" Anthony fired at me, probably thinking I was implying that Dimitri was lying. Dimitri's eyebrows raised, but there was still no trace of malice in his eye.

"Nothing," I sent a meaningful glare at Tasha, I was now almost positive that Tasha charmed Dimitri's ring. She didn't even spare me a glance.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, if you are inquiring that I shouldn't trust Guardian Belikov's word, I would like to hear your reasons."

"My name is Rose," I mumbled arrogantly "and I didn't mean anything toward _Dimitri_."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Well I didn't mean anything by my comment." I wanted to hold off telling any superiors about my suspicions until I had evidence. The black marks on my record wouldn't really help my case.

"Rose," Tasha sharply called me. "Anthony, enough of this. Rose, Lissa, if you don't admit to stealing my ring, you will probably face expulsion."

"What? Both of us?" I tossed a desperate look at Anthony.

"Probably not, just you Rose." I internally sighed. At least Lissa would be safe. But, what about me? Why don't I just tell them what happened or I could fabricate something. Before I could say anything Lissa stood up from her chair and interrupted.

"Rose didn't steal it. I did." I jumped from my chair, ready to argue but Lissa stopped me. _Don't stop me Rose, I know what I'm doing. _Lissa's voice ran clear and loud through my head so I stayed quiet, giving her a chance.

"I was jealous of Tasha, I need Dimitri as my guardian, he's the best and I'm the only Dragomir left, if you don't provide me with the best how will I survive?" No one spoke. Everyone stared at Lissa incredulously, but Lissa kept a snobby look on her face. Staring at Anthony in the eye.

"Are you serious?" Anthony said, he sounded so confused I could have laughed.

"Yes, I stole it now leave Rose alone, I switched the rings without Rose or anyone knowing." She turned toward me. "Rose you can go now. This is between me and them."

"But Lissa-"

"Go! I'll see you later." She winked at me and pushed me out the door. _Sorry Rose, but they would have expelled you, the only thing they'll do to me is send me back to St. Vlads._

I went back to my room, and immediately felt terrible. I shoudn't have left her, she shouldn't have stood up for me. What will I do if she gets in a lot of trouble. She said she wasn't going to get in trouble. I wonder how Dimitri is? Wait, what? Where did that thought come from?

I immmediately thought about all of Dimitri's actions tonight, he seemed normal and just really confused. Did it work? or is it just a coincidence? I should go tell him, it might sound impossible but maybe he'll believe me. I opened my door and went straight to the gym since he spends most of his time in there.

I pushed open the door but just saw a few other Dhampirs. I turned around and walked straight into Dimitri's hard chest.

"Damn," I rubbed my eye. "you should really think of using your pecks for good instead of evil."

"Rose, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be hiding from the headmaster?" Amazing, not a spec of malice in his eye. Only surprise and he didn't even notice it.

"I was looking for you. We need to talk." I led him to one of the one-on-one training rooms. He followed hesitantly behind.

"Rose, i've been meaning to speak with you. I know you were lying in there Rose, you and Vasilisa. I don't know why you would lie and why you would take my ring, I need to know why."

"Dimitri," I faced him, I wish I could've been born taller just so i could look him in the eye. "I took it because you were being compulsed. By Tasha, most likely."

"Tasha? Why would Tasha want to control me?"

"I haven't figured that out yet but haven't you been an asshole to me for the last few weeks?"

"A what?"

"Dimitri, you've been a jerk to me remember? You kissed me when you were engaged to Tasha, got me kicked out of St. Vlads, made me feel dirty, played with my emotions and this better be ringing a bell!"

"I did all that?"

"Dimitri, what do you think you've been doing the last few weeks?"

"Well I know I didn't play a part in getting you kicked out of St. Vladimirs. I was surprised when I got the letter that you were tranfering and I've been guarding at the academy until two days ago."

"What? But, you do know you're engaged to Tasha right?" Dimitri's face hardened.

"Rose, Im engaged to Tasha because she's pregnant."

"I swear to God Dimitri, if your the father. I'm gutting you like a fish." He didn't say anything, just looked at me sadly.

"When? Was it before the attack?" He nodded once, my heart broke but I didn't show it. I turned around on one heel and left the room. And just like that I gave up on Dimitri. He was going to be happy with Tasha and a baby. Something I couldn't give him, even though at that moment, I would have given anything to be able to.

I was back in my room when someone knocked on the door. Lissa was gone, a guardian had informed me that she was immediately sent back to the Academy. That was her only punishment. I was glad she wasn't severly punished, but still missed her.

"Yeah?" I yelled, hoping it was Adrian or Stephanie. Any friendly face.

"Open up Rose." A masculine voice said, It was Dimitri so I opened it. Outside my door were three guardians. Alberta, Stan and another guardian I didn't recognize. They all looked sad.

"Alberta, what are you doing here?"

"I've come with bad news." She took a step inside my room and looked upset about the messy room. "Two days ago there was another attack-"

"Was anyone I know hurt? Was it another school?"

"I'm getting to that." I held my breath, was it anyone at the academy or maybe the royal court? "The Szelsky's were attacked. The guardians did their best, your mother did her best but their was too much commotion."

"Is she dead?" I asked.

"Most likely, her body wasn't found."

**Please R&R, hope you loved it. **


	18. Chapter 18: Leaving

**Could you believe what I did last chapter? I was almost as shocked as you were writing it, I've known that I was going to do that since like chapter 10 and I never really knew exactly where I was going to throw it in so, Surprise! :D  
I'm sorry for the slow updating but I'm trying my best, life is really weighing on me. But I'm trying my best and I hope that's what counts the most.**

_Previously:_ _"I'm getting to that." I held my breath, was it anyone at the academy or maybe the royal court?" _  
_The Szelsky's were attacked. The guardians did their best, your mother did her best but there was too much commotion." _  
_"Is she dead?" I asked. _  
_"Most likely, her body wasn't found."_****

Chapter 18: Leaving

"Where are you going?" Jake asked me, he looked at my suitcase, unzipped and lying open on my bed, and all the clothes strewn across my room. I sighed and debated whether or not to take or leave my favorite pair of heels. They were too impractical and while I tried to come up with reasons to keep them, I knew that they wouldn't be useful at all.

"I'm leaving." I glanced at him. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"Ouch, that hurt." Jake now stood next to me, obviously not understanding my seriousness. "Where are you going to go?"

"Leave Jake." I told him without glancing at him tossing a dress into the leave pile.

"Only if you tell me where you're going."

"Can I tell you later? I'm not leaving until tomorrow and I just want to get packing done." I was lying, I was leaving tonight, as soon as possible, but I just wanted Jake to leave.

"Fine, I'll bring snacks then and we can talk it over. I've wanted to speak with you for a while now." Jake, seemed to understand that I didn't feel like talking. I pushed him out the door.

"Yeah, sure thanks, whatever." I closed the door and locked it to keep from any other visitors. It was late in the vampire war, a few hours ago Alberta had paid me a visit and told me that my mother was most likely dead. I sat on my bed, my eyes burning and my chest hurting, and remembered the conversation we'd had.

_"What do you mean 'most likely'? Why haven't you guys sent out a search party or something? Where exactly was she attacked?" I yelled at her. She looked me in the eye gently but warily,as if I would attack her._

_"There are no extra guardians to send out Rose. None of the Szelsky's were taken so the need for rescue Isn't what the council is focused on. They're busy trying to sort out all the hysteria all the Guardian-less Moroi are causing and the Szelsky's were vacationing in Istanbul." _

_"But my mother's been guarding the Szelsky's for 20 years, probably more. She's the best, they need her!" I sounded hysterical but I was, I was desperate. I needed my mom. She can't be gone, she's still alive but she needs help and someone needs to help her. _

_"I know Rose, she'll be missed but we can't spare the guardians. I'm sorry." She walked out of my room with the guardians that came with her, they sent me an apologetic look and left. I threw on my shoes and jacket and I ran to the only person I knew who could have helped me. I knocked on his door, well I banged, and Anthony opened up, alarmed._

_"What is it Rose?" He asked but then seemed to know the source of my stress. _

_"You know? Anthony, you know what happened?" he nodded once. I felt relief go through me. "Good then you know why we need to assemble the guardians or something."_

_"Rose," he looked at me. "I can't do that."_

_"Yes, you can. All you need to do is give me like five guardians. I'll go with them, I'll risk my life. My mom is important. She's one of the best Guardians around. We need her."_

_"I know, but Rose I can't just give you supplies for your rescue. Guardians are already scarce and with this new attack there will be a lot of parents calling to make sure their child is protected to the best of our ability. I can't Rose. Not without a bigger reason."_

_"So you won't help me?" I stared him down. He held my gaze but shook his head giving me a sorrowful look._

_"Fine." I quipped, holding back all the word's I wanted to call him. "Then good bye." I left and I didn't turn back. Wheels were turning in my head, I was going to save my mom. Without anyone else's help._

I finished packing, I remembered the last two things I had to do before I left. I zipped up my book bag. It was heavy but manageable. I looked down at the clothes I'd been wearing today. I should shower and change. Who knows when I would shower again. I looked at my watch, the first plane out of Seattle towards Istanbul stopped in London and it left in 6 hours. I had time. I showered and changed into stretchy blue jeans, the black shoes Stephanie bought me and a t-shirt. Not the most fashionable outfit but It was comfortable and easy to move in.

I remembered the two last things I had to do before I left. I sighed, looking around the room to make sure there was nothing else I had to do before leaving. It was late and only a few guardians would be out. I turned to my window. I was a few stories up but there were a few window sills I could use to climb down. I tossed my bag down first and it landed with a low thud. I threw one leg over and climbed down as quietly as I could. I had to jump the last few feet but made it unscathed. I ran across the field towards the teachers wing

I knew Adrian and Lissa would be there. There were a few empty rooms on the first floor where I knew is what they used for guests. There were three rooms in all and I snuck a peek in one of the rooms. There was a pink suitcase sitting on the floor with a few heels sitting around it. I left that window, I wasn't ready to face Lissa yet.

The next room had an empty bottle of vodka sitting on the floor. Adrian was passed out a few feet from the bottle. I rolled my eyes. I took a quick look around and tapped on the window. Adrian didn't move. I checked to see if the window was locked, it wasn't, and I pushed it up. I quietly climbed through and closed the window. I pulled down the blinds, just in case anyone peeked through.

"Adrian?" I kicked Adrian's foot lightly. "Adrian wake up."

"Hmm?" He mumbled, eyes fluttering. He looked up at me and started to sit up.

"Little Dhampir? Were you unable to resist my charm? At last, my Rose has seen the light." He held out his arms. "Well don't be shy, come to papa."

"Adrian, I need to borrow some money." I ignored his advances.

"Money? What do you need money for?" He asked confused. Rubbing his eyes and flattening his wrinkled clothes.

"I'm going on a trip and I need your help."

"What kind of trip? Are you running away or something?" I hadn't expected Adrian to question my motives so much. I did not want to explain my entire plan to him.

"Yeah, kind of. Can you just lend me money? I'll pay you back if-when I get back." Crap, if he knew that I was going to do something dangerous he wouldn't give me money.

"If you get back? If those are the circumstances than I can't give you anything." I scooted closer to him placing one of my hands on his forearm. Adrian stared at my hand before looking back at me.

"Please Adrian?" I begged him. "Please help me, I can't tell you where I'm going but don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'll come back and I'll be Lissa's guardian and she'll marry Christian and have cute kids. You'll eventually fins a cute Moroi too, Adrian. We'll all be happy. Just let me go now." I begged him, I realised when I was speaking how everyone can be with the one they loved except me. I loved Dimitri, he had to marry Tasha. I've given up on him. I already lost Dimitri and I couldn't bear to lose my mother too.

"Rose, that didn't exactly sound like a happily ever after. You can't stay Lissa's guardian forever. You should be happy too, not just watch from the sidelines." I laughed humorlessly.

"Not in this life, Adrian. I have to guard Lissa, she's my best friend and the last Dragomir-"

"And you're the only Rose Hathaway!" Adrian said almost frustratingly. "I hate that you have to give up your life for someone else. It doesn't matter who it is. You are not just a Dhampir, you're a person. and I, I don't want you to be sad." I couldn't breath, I wasn't sure if this was what he was really thinking or if spirit had somehow changed his attitude. I thought about what to say and took a breath.

"That's why you should help me, Adrian. This is my last opportunity to do something I need to do before I'm a guardian. Help me, Adrian, please. You're the only one who can." I rubbed his arm.

"Rose, I, okay, I'll help you." He stood up and walked over to his side table. He picked up his wallet took out a few bills and handed them to me.  
"Thanks so much Adrian. I'll pay you back."

"You don't need to do that. Just promise me a favor, you're just lucky that my parents stopped cutting me off."

"Okay fine. But I think I'm going to need a little more money than this." I counted the bills. I couldn't believe he kept this kind of money in his pocket, but it still wasn't enough.

"I know Rose, just go to this address and they'll help you finish the transaction. I'll call right now but I figured that you were kind of in a rush." Adrian pulled me towards him and I wrapped my arms around him.

"Thank you," I mumbled into his chest.

"Just, come back Little Dhampir. I've got a few ideas about how to cash in my favor." I let go of him, grabbed my bag and crawled out of the window. I went to Lissa's bedroom. Her window was also unlocked and I crawled through. I saw her lying peacefully on her bed and I decided not to waken her. I squeezed her hand.

"Rose," She mumbled. "Don't go." I was startled until I realized that she was just dreaming. It hurt even more to think that she would lose me twice. Once in her dreams and again in reality.

"Sh, everything is going to be okay Lissa. I'll be back soon, don't worry about me." I looked at her again and promised myself that I would check in on her every day.

"Bye Lissa." I left her room too walking towards the patch of woods I'd visited with Jake. I would have to go through there since it would be the easiest way for me to escape. I looked around and sprinted toward the patch of woods. As soon as I made it there, I would be free. It was about a quarter of a mile from where I was and it was an easy run. As soon as I knew I was protected in the forest I set out.

"You forgot something Rose." A deep voice said from behind a tree. I recognized the voice and scowled.

"Oh yeah? and what exactly did I forget?"

"Me." Dimitri stepped out into the light. He as wearing jeans and his famous brown duster, he looked gorgeous as usual. He was also carrying a book bag.

"What are you doing here?"

"Did you forget that I know you almost as good as you know yourself. We're connected and as soon as I heard about your attack. I knew that you would go after your mother. I also knew that you don't have enough experience and I have to come with you."

"What about Tasha?"

"She'll be fine without me for a while."

"Well that's great but you're not coming with me." I glared at him.

"Rose, I don't think you can stop me." He looked at me seriously. I had no idea why he wanted to come so he probably had an ulterior motive.  
"I had no problem taking you down in the academy and even in the gym."

"Don't worry. I wont allow you to do that again. You can't escape me Rose. Plus, you need my help. Do you even know where you're going?"  
"Sure I do." I didn't.

"Well I happened to have read the file on the new attack. I also asked around and I can tell you exactly where they were attacked and even a few locations of Strigoi hideouts." Damn. He had me. I needed help and it looked like he was the only one who could. I looked away from him and thought about exactly what my choice was. I could ditch him and go on a wild goose chase or I could let him come with me and suffer a heart ache. I might grow to love him even more. Or I guess I could let him come along only until I get the information and then ditch him. I'll ignore him and refuse to think of him. I'll close myself off and let my instincts lead the way.

"Okay, fine. You can come."****

And... done. :D Hope you guys loved it please oh please Review. Every one is highly appreciated. :D 


	19. Chapter 19: Traveling

**I dedicate this chapter to the Eraser to my Scribble.**

**So lets continue on with this adventure.**

_**Previously: **__"Well I happened to have read the file on the new attack. I also asked around and __I can tell you exactly where they were attacked and even a few locations of Strigoi hideouts."_

_Damn. He had me. I needed help and it looked like he was the only one who could. I looked __away from him and thought about exactly what my choice was. I could ditch him and go on a __wild goose chase or I could let him come with me and suffer a heart ache. I might grow to love __him even more. Or I guess I could let him come along only until I get the information and then __ditch him. I'll ignore him and refuse to think of him. I'll close myself off and let my instincts lead __the way._

_"Okay, fine. You can come."_

**Chapter 19: Traveling**

"Rose, if you keep looking so worked up, you're going to draw attention." Dimitri scolded me, taking a hold of my hand. I pulled my hand back roughly and hit the man walking behind me with my elbow.

"Sorry." I murmured to the man. He glared at me but didn't say anything. "Some people are just rude." I informed Dimitri.

"Rose, if you're going to keep this up you are going to walk to Istanbul." I rolled my eyes.

"The account is in my name, so you're the one who's walking."

"Account? You have a bank account?" Shoot, forgot to mention this to him earlier. At least I had time to plan out a story of where I got the money.

"How did you think we were going to travel to Istanbul?"

"I assumed we were going to sneak on the plane or by threatening the pilot." Dimitri said seriously.

"Even I'm not that crazy. I have money and I'm going to use to buy whatever I need. But if you want to ride on top of a plane instead of in it. That's your choice."

"How did you get enough money?" Dimitri asked. "Has Janine been sending you money?"

"No, I've been, saving up." I cringed at the pause in my voice.

"Saving up?" Dimitri turned his head to the side, he scrutinized me, deciding whether or not I was telling the truth. I turned my attention towards the ATM a few feet in front of us. I had already gone to the bank. Dimitri had to take out money so while he was busy doing that I escaped and finished the transaction Adrian had set up before Dimitri really noticed I was gone.

"Well, we better get on line before the plane leaves." I walked up to the machine, entered a sleek black card that the bank had given me. I punched in a code and it give me options on how much money I could take out. I pressed the button with the largest amount of money there and the machine vibrated as the hundred dollar bills came out of the machine. I knew Dimitri was staring at me but I avoided his gaze as I walked to the ticket counter.

"Can I have two tickets to Istanbul?"

* * *

"You're going to have to tell me sometime where you got that money." Dimitri told me as we walked through the terminal. Our plane was scheduled to leave in an hour and we were just going to sit down and wait for time to pass.

"No I don't." I told him nonchalantly. "I can have secrets Dimitri, and I kind of want to keep this one." I looked at the clock. Lissa will be getting up in an hour or two, it pained me to think of her reaction and I hoped she didn't take my leaving personally.

"We'll see, I can be very persuasive in getting what I want." I looked at him, trying to understand what he really wanted. I looked in his brown eyes that seemed to be filled with so much of his emotions. His hair, still very short, was growing. I lifted one hand up to try to touch the top of his head but decided that that probably wouldn't be the smartest thing I could do. I looked away, dropping my bag onto one of the chairs.

"By the way Dimitri, how are you here?" I thought about how that question was really confusing. I rephrased my question. "I mean, how did you escape Tasha?"

"I told her I had to leave for a while and I left."

"And she let you?"

"She couldn't really stop me."

"Yeah, she could have. She probably would have threatened to take away your custody of the baby or something." I closed my mouth. I had heard jealousy in my voice and I knew Dimitri had heard it too. I saw Dimitri analyze me and arrange his thoughts.

But before he could speak I opened my mouth. "Don't bother Dimitri. I know that Tasha is your woman and that you guys will live happily ever after. You don't have to explain it to me. I got it."

"Rose, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I'm doing this to you. I was in love with you but now I have to be with Tasha. She needs me." Dimitri couldn't look at me, and I got angry as he went on.

"If you really did love me in the first place, you wouldn't have knocked up Tasha." I said in an icy voice. I left my bag in the seat but left him there. I needed chocolate immediately.

I passed by all the vendors, searching for one that contained everything I needed for this long trip. I entered a store that was sort of like a mini department store. It had tons of aisles and everything you could possibly need to live in the airport for a couple of days. I checked my pockets for money and came up with a few twenties.

I grabbed a basket and filled it with one of every chocolate bar the store had, a red Gatorade, 3 bags of chips, two magazines that were filled with celebrity gossip, summer fashion tips and dating quizzes and a pillow that wraps around your neck while you are sitting on a plane. I also bought a vanilla flavored chap stick, I'm about to experience hell and have too many things to worry about, why add chapped lips to the list?

I got on line to pay for my stuff and unwrapped a Milky Way bar. Just when I was about to pay for my items I saw a display for a new western book that had come out. _The Riches Of The __West_, sounded exactly like the type of book Dimitri would have read. I sighed and grabbed it.

The guy at the cash register took i and scanned it.

"Are you into westerns?" He asked, bagging the book.

"Nope, i bought it for someone else it will keep him busy for the ride to Istanbul." I handed him the money.

"I have family in Istanbul, did you hear about the massive killing that have been happening recently?"

"No."

"Well, be careful and try not to wander around on your own too often." He handed me my bags.

"Thanks for the tip." I left the store. I had spent thirty minutes in the shop and I knew my plane was going to leave soon. I walked back to the terminal with my bags in hand. Dimitri sat in the same place he was when he left. He looked to be deep in thought but he seemed to sense me coming and met my eyes.

I smiled awkwardly and sat next to him. I reached into my shopping bags and got out the book.

"Here, I saw this and figured I'd rather you fantasize about shooting bad cow boys then giving me philosophical lessons."

**So it was short but I really enjoyed writing this. And you guys are not going to believe ****whats going to happen next.**


	20. Chapter 20: Nightmares

******Previously: **_I smiled awkwardly and sat next to him. I reached into my shopping bag and got out the book i'd bought him.__  
_

_"Here, i saw this and figured I'd rather have you fantasize about shooting bad cow boys then giving me philosophical lessons."_

**Chapter 20: Nightmares**

The plane ride went on in silence. Since we bought the plane tickets so last minute, the only ones that were available were first class seats. I didn't complain and Dimitri seemed to like being near the entrance of the plane. We could also see the door to the cockpit. I suspected that if the pilot ever had a heart attack, Dimitri would immediately take out his pilots license and save the day.

I couldn't sit still, I was able to keep the fact that my mother was kidnapped in a far corner of my mind because of all the work I had to do. But now, I had 5 hours of traveling from Washington to London and it would be another 9 from London to Istanbul. Plenty of time to think. Damn.

"Dimitri?" The pain in my voice made Dimitri's head snap up from his book. He was around a hundred pages in and it had only been an hour since we got on the plane.

"Yes?"

"Do you think you could fill me in on any of the guardian secrets that you used to blackmail yourself on this adventure?" I smiled at him the best I could.

"Sorry Rose, I can't do that." He turned back to his book nonchalantly.

"Why not? You're already on the plane with me. I won't be prepared for future dangerous events if you don't tell me."  
"Rose, you know as well as I do that if I told you the places where the strigoi were being seen, you would lock me into a closet and leave without me."

"Dimitri, although that may one day happen, I don't like that you don't trust me. Plus I don't think any of my plans would be as boring as that one." I told him, but I knew I had lost. Dimitri's face told me as much. I pouted and crossed my arms, not caring that I was acting childish. When would I ditch him? As soon as we make it to istanbul? But what if he decides to not tell me till we're right outside the Strigoi hideout. That would be a problem.

"You better not be forming an escape plan in that twisted little head of yours." I was just to tell him how improbable that was until I saw the stewardess rolling a cart of snacks down the aisle. She came to us and I saw that the cart was full of assortments of peanuts and sodas. I nudged Dimitri and he sighed.

"Excuse me, we'll take two bags of the barbeque peanuts and two cokes." The stewardess smiled at Dimitri. She was young and pretty and seemed to be looking at Dimitri with interest. "No problem." She reached down her cart and brushed her arm against Dimitri's.

"Make that five." I told her, annoyed.

"What was that?" She poked her head and looked at me surprised, as if she hadn't seen me at all.

"I-We want five bags of snacks." I grabbed Dimitri's hand, he looked surprised but didn't say anything. "Dimka's a big boy." I used his nickname, even though it wasn't my favorite.

"No problem miss." She sent me a smile faker than barbie's.

"What was that about?" Dimitri asked me as I munched on peanuts. I had grabbed four of the bags of snacks and my soda and crossed my legs over the seat.

"What was what about?" I feigned innocence, taking a sip of my soda. Dimitri muttered something in Russian but didn't respond me. I looked through my magazine, it turned out that neon eyeshadow and tribal patterns were considered fashionable. Humans were so strange. I looked up at the tv screen and didn't recognize the movie they had on. There seemed to be a lot of explosions and gunfire so I plugged my headphones in and started watching. I glanced over to Dimitri and he seemed to be watching me. I turned my head towards him and pulled my headphone out of one ear.

"Need something?" I asked him.

"No, I was just thinking."

"About what?" I took the other bud out of my ear.

"You." He looked at me. I waited for him to continue. "You say that Tasha cumpulsed me into hurting you. But I don't remember doing any of the things you said."

"Of course not. You were were being controlled by her I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted you to remember." I saw fear flash in his eyes as I spoke. At first I didn't understand the fear, but then I realized that control was the one thing that Dimitri strived for. Always being in control of his emotions and actions was what made him so strong. If you take that away, you take away his security. No wonder he had a hard time believing me. He didn't want to believe that his strength could have been so easily manipulated.

"Dimitri, I-I'm sorry." I didn't know what to say. He stared into my eyes, I couldn't really tell what he was feeling but I knew he was searching for something in my eyes. What was that saying? Your eyes are the window to your soul? I felt a shiver go up my spine. I looked away. Dimitri was better off not knowing what I was thinking.

I stood up and left the seat. "I'll be right back." I mumbled and went to the small, gross bathroom. I stood in front of the mirror and stared at myself. I had bags under my eyes from lack of sleep but I wasn't really tired. My hair was a mess and I immediately started finger combing it but gave up. My cheeks were pink, I put my fingers up to my face and felt the warmth. When did I start blushing? I wet a paper towel and held it up to my cheeks. Someone knocked the door, someone who wanted to get in. I opened it and left the bathroom.

I went directly to my seat. Dimitri wasn't there and I didn't worry about it. I sat in my seat, put my headphones in and tried to sleep. Eventually I did and Dimitri didn't come back.

_"Rose?" I heard my mother call me. I had appeared in a long dark hallway. In front of me there stood a door, I turned around and tried to see what was down the hallway but I couldn't see the ending because it was too dark. I open the door and theres someone crawling towards me. Her back is filled with angry, red welts and her hair is dirty and stuck together. It smells like a combination of vomit and sweat. I ignore the smell and reach out to touch the person crawling towards me.  
_  
_"Mom?" I hear myself say. "What's wrong?" I touch her arm but she flinches and collapses. I kneel down. "Mom? Mom say something?"  
_  
_She says nothing. I turn her over and can't see any life in her eyes. She opens her mouth in a silent scream and suddenly turns into ashes in my arms.  
_  
I open my eyes and I'm sweating. I look around the room and see nothing but darkness and I scream. The door on the other side of the room opens and Dimitri strides toward me.

"Are you okay Rose?" I take a deep breath and swallow. My throat feels raw and I can feel tears streaming down my face.

"Whe- where are we?" I ask him.

"In London. We stayed in a hotel last night remember?" I did.

"Yeah, I remember. I just had a nightmare, it's nothing to worry about it comrade- I mean Dimitri." I just wanted him to leave. It was embarrassing enough that he had to see me this vulnerable. He didn't say anything and just looked at me.

I wiped away my tears and tried to smile. "Really i'm ok. You can leave. I'll be fine."

"Rose, you terrified me. I thought you were hurt." Dimitri reached a hand out and rubbed my cheek softly. As if trying to wipe the tears that weren't there anymore.

"Well i'm fine." I ducked out of his hand. "Nothing to worry about." I pulled the blankets back over me and lied down.

"Well, according to that clock over there we need to wake up in a few hours anyway. So i'll see you in the morning." I heard Dimitri chuckle softly.

"Have it your way Rose, I'm in the next room over if you need anything. Good night." I didn't respond. Tomorrow we would be in Istanbul and I was ready for anything.

That dream made me want to fight harder and find my mom. She needed me and I didn't want to put anyone else at danger. Especially Dimitri, I needed to find a way to get rid of him for his own good. I decided to plan it later. I was tired and needed to sleep. I need to be in top condition, I was going to find my mother soon. Alone.  
**__****  
Please Review, every single one is appreciated. Thanks so much for supporting my writing. You guys are amazing.**


	21. Update!

Hi there guys, let me just say how great it is that I have such great fans. I love all of you and writing FF has been something I'm incredible proud of, however I need to change some things in Hitting Rock Bottom.

I will be rewriting the chapters and re uploading them here. It physically pains me when I reread the first couple chapters and I want to change some things around. Nothing ginormous, just a few tweaks that have been bothering me for years before I get on with the story. I WILL BE FINISHING IT! I have no intention of ever quitting and will keep on writing until this story is done.

Thanks for all the great reviews and such. You're awesome.

Bye for now, I should be putting up the first reedited chapter on Monday.

P.S. Is anyone else super excited for The Indigo Spell coming out in 3 days? I can't wait!


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